Volleyball sweeps Mount Union to open OAC schedule

By Wes Mayberry

ALLIANCE — The Ohio Northern volleyball team opened its 2022 Ohio Athletic Conference schedule with a 25-19, 25-12, 25-21 sweep of Mount Union on Saturday afternoon at Timken Gymnasium.

The Polar Bears improve to 11-5 overall and 1-0 in the OAC while dropping the Purple Raiders to 13-4, 0-1.

Sophomores Sonia Dahlin (Minnetonka, Minn.) and Erin Wagner (Massillon/Perry) led ONU with 16 and 15 kills, respectively. Dahlin hit .429 for the match, while Wagner hit .419.

Maria Ellesin and Darby Leininger posted seven kills each to lead Mount Union.

The teams battled to a 7-7 tie in the opening set before ONU put together a 5-0 run that included two kills from Wagner and one from sophomore Lauren James (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) for a 12-7 lead.

The Polar Bears led the rest of the way en route to the 25-19 victory capped by a kill from fifth-year senior Hannah Irmer (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli).

Northern dominated the second set, scoring eight of the first nine points and later jumping out to a 20-10 lead.

The Polar Bears proceeded to score five of the next seven points for the 25-12 win that was capped by a service ace from senior Lea McFadden (Chillicothe/Paint Valley).

The score was much closer in the third set as the Purple Raiders fought to force a fourth.

The set featured 16 tie scores, including at 20-all on a kill from UMU's Isabella Sprunger.

The Polar Bears closed out strong, though, scoring four straight points on two kills from Wagner and one each from Dahlin and junior Grace Irmer (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli).

An attack error from Wagner ended that run, but Northern closed out the sweep with a kill from junior Ava Ehlinger (New Carlisle/Tecumseh) for the 25-21 victory.

Sophomore Rachel Jennings (Novi, Mich.), the two-time defending OAC Defensive Player of the Week, tallied a game-high 25 digs for ONU.

James posted five blocks while freshman Caroline Hensley (Loveland/Bishop Fenwick) added 42 assists, which was just four off her career-high that she set in the season-opener against Centre (Ky.).

ONU hit .297 for the match with 49 kills and 14 errors on 118 attacks, while the Raiders hit .107 with 29 kills and 16 errors on 121 attempts.

The Polar Bears return to the court on Wednesday for an OAC road game at No. 18 Otterbein at 7 p.m.