FINDLAY, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team scored its second conference victory of the season, going on the road to defeat GLIAC South Division foe Findlay 3-2 (25-16, 21-25, 25-16, 21-25, 15-12) Friday night.

Freshman Ashley Sprau (Delaware, Ohio) tallied a season-high 19 kills to lead four Panthers in double figures. Junior Summer Hale (Galena, Ohio) had another triple-double – her sixth of the year – with 11 kills, 26 assists and 10 digs, while junior Rachel Billing (Anna, Ohio) and freshman Tara Winner (Versailles, Ohio) had 10 kills apiece.

Senior Elyse Mongillo (Columbiana, Ohio) had 21 assists and junior Stacy Rogg (Cincinnati, Ohio) tallied a match-high 26 digs for the Panthers, who snapped a three-match GLIAC losing skid.

Sprau had three straight kills to give Ohio Dominican a 4-1 lead in the decisive fifth set, and the Panthers led from that point forward, though the Oilers cut the lead to one on several occasions. Leading 11-10, Shannon Nadler (Leipsic, Ohio) and Hale combined for a block, and two straight Oiler attack errors bumped ODU's advantage to 14-10. Nadler's kill off a feed from Hale closed the match.

The Panthers rallied from an early 5-2 deficit in the first set with a 13-2 burst, capped off by a solo block by Emily Post to put ODU in front 15-7. The Panthers bumped their lead to as many as 12 points on several occasions, and Sprau's sixth kill of the set sealed it. Ohio Dominican hit .517 for the set and limited Findlay to a .179 attack percentage.

Findlay led for much of the second set, though the Panthers nearly rallied from being five points down. Trailing 18-13, Billing had two kills, and Post and Sprau teamed for a block as ODU drew within a point at 20-19. However, that would be as close as the team would get in the set.

An incredible finish to the third set saw ODU reel off the final 10 points as the Panthers came back from a 16-15 deficit. An Oiler service error and two attack errors started the run, and three more attack errors by the Oilers contributed to ODU's surge. Rogg closed Findlay out in the third with an ace to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead.

However, the Oilers responded with a fourth set victory to push the match to the fifth set, in which the Panthers hit .364 as a squad to come away with the victory.

Sprau's previous season-high in kills was 16, also coming against Findlay, and she matched Billing with the second-most kills by a Panther in a match this season.

Ohio Dominican continues its six-match road trip at 2 p.m. Saturday as the Panthers take on the No. 10 ranked Hillsdale Chargers in Hillsdale, Mich.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu