COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Dominican volleyball team opened what was thought to be a heated rivalry with Lake Erie College on Thursday evening in Alumni Hall. The Panthers and Storm will likely see plenty of each other in the near future with both teams joining the highly competitive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) next fall. Lake Erie might think twice about that decision as the Panthers downed the Storm in three games (25-17, 25-16, 25-6) in their first meeting as future rivals.  

The Panthers jumped all over the Lake Erie in game one as they cruised to a quick 14-8 lead. After regrouping following a time-out, the Storm mounted a comeback that would fall short thanks to a big first game from the Panthers offense. ODU combined for 17 kills in the game and recorded a hitting percentage of just under .300.

ODU didn't let up from there as they went on to trounce the Storm 25-16 and 25-6 to earn the victory in straight sets. For the game ODU combined for 43 kills and a season high .429 hitting percentage. The Panthers known for their solid defense showed a complete game effort with a dominating performance on both side of the court. The Panthers finished the night with 42 digs in the win.

Leading the way for the Panthers was outside hitter Rachel Billing (Jr., Anna, OH; pictured) who had a team high 16 kills, with a hitting percentage of .375. It was again Elyse Mongillo (Jr., Columbiana, OH) and Cassie Schroeder (Sr., Columbus Grove, OH) that directed the offense recording 19 and 12 assists, respectively. Samantha Krieg (Fr, Elida, OH) joined Billing to lead the team with 10 digs and Shannon Nadler (Fr., Leipsic, OH) recorded four blocks.

With the win Ohio Dominican improves their overall record to 11-10 and will return to action this weekend as they travel to Marian, Indiana for the Indiana Wesleyan Tournament. The Panthers will open on Friday afternoon with the host Wildcats at 2 p.m.