AURORA, Ill. – Despite a furious rally, the Ohio Dominican volleyball team's rally from two sets down came up short as the Panthers fell to Quincy (Ill.) University 3-2 (24-26, 20-25, 25-22, 25-20, 11-15) Friday in the first day of the GLIAC/GLVC Crossover Tournament at the Great Lakes Center.

Rachel Billing (Anna, Ohio) posted 19 kills and 12 digs while hitting .286, Ashley Sprau (Delaware, Ohio) tallied 11 kills and Summer Hale (Galena, Ohio) had her fifth triple-double of the season with 10 kills, 13 assists and 11 digs. Elyse Mongillo (Columbiana, Ohio) had a team-high 18 assists and 19 digs and Stacy Rogg (Cincinnati, Ohio) led all players with 23 digs as the Panthers fell to 5-11 on the season.

The first set featured 13 ties and six lead changes as neither team could pull away. ODU opened its biggest lead at 16-13 after a kill by Billing, but the Hawks scored the next three points to draw even. Another Billing kill temporarily put the Panthers in front 21-19, but that would be their final lead of the set. Sprau registered a kill with ODU down 24-23, but Quincy closed the set with the final two points.

The Panthers led early in the second set as well, grabbing an 11-7 advantage after a Hawk service error. Quincy responded with a 10-3 run and led 17-14, gradually building its lead to six points and pulling away with a 2-0 match lead.

Ohio Dominican was in danger of being swept but answered strongly in the third set. Trailing 19-14, the Panthers put together one of their strongest surges of the season, scoring 10 of the next 11 points. Billing recorded four kills and an ace in that run as the Panthers gained a 24-20 advantage, winning the set 25-22. The Panthers hit .355 for the set.

That momentum carried forward in the fourth set. With the score knotted at eight, ODU took advantage of several Quincy attack errors en route to an 8-0 run, capped off by a kill from Hale. Though the Hawks slowly edged their way back into the set, narrowing ODU's lead to 23-18, the Panthers held on to send the match to a fifth set, the first time this season that the team has played a fifth set.

Quincy grabbed control early with a 4-0 run and led 8-3. Consecutive kills from Billing brought ODU to within a point at 8-7, but the Panthers did not have one final push left as the Hawks scored six of the next eight points en route to the win.

Ohio Dominican has two more matches at the Crossover Tournament on Saturday. The Panthers take on Drury University at 10 a.m. and Maryville University at 4 p.m. to conclude their final non-conference action.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu