AURORA, Ill. – Senior Kristy Birkemeier (Columbus Grove, Ohio) drilled a career-high 23 kills as Ohio Dominican's volleyball team defeated Quincy 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 25-27, 15-8) in Saturday's finale of the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover Tournament.

The Panthers (10-10) dropped a 3-0 decision in their first match Saturday against Drury (13-25, 16-25, 22-25) and finished the tournament with a 2-1 record. Overall, the GLVC went 28-20 against the GLIAC, as ODU was one of just three GLIAC schools to notch a winning record.

Birkemeier's previous career-best was 18 kills against Kentucky Wesleyan last season, as she teamed with sophomore Caitlin Kusan (Westerville, Ohio), who had 12 kills, and freshman Tory Thompson (Quincy, Ohio), who finished with 11, to lead the Panthers to the matinee win.

ODU took the first set, which featured 15 ties and five lead changes. The Panthers trailed 16-13, which was the biggest deficit of the set, but came back to tie it at 17. Neither team led by more than one until ODU took a 24-22 lead on consecutive kills from freshman Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio) and Birkemeier, and Kusan would close out the set with another kill.

The Panthers, who hit .382 with 18 kills in the opening frame, struggled in set two and hit just .115 with seven kills. But ODU bounced back in the third, recovering from a 19-16 deficit as several Hawk errors and a Kusan kill knotted it at 19. Kusan and Birkemeier teamed up on a block, and two more Quincy errors put ODU in front 22-19 to close the 6-0 run. Freshman Darby Slavin (Columbus, Ohio) notched a kill off a feed from sophomore Bailey Barker (Muncie, Ind.) to finish the set.

ODU trailed in the fourth set, but came back from a 23-19 deficit to tie it at 24. A kill by Kraemer gave the Panthers a 25-24 lead, but Quincy scored the final three points to force the deciding fifth set.

Quincy jumped to a 5-2 advantage, but it was all Panthers after that point, closing the frame on a 13-3 run. Kraemer's kill tied it at 6-6, and Birkemeier and Kusan combined on three kills late to seal the victory for ODU, which moved to 4-1 in five-set matches.

The Panthers hit .255 in the match, registering 65 kills to 54 for Quincy, and limited the Hawks to an .185 attack percentage. Slavin finished with 50 assists and Barker led all players with 19 digs.

Thompson (13 digs) and Birkemeier (15 digs) both finished with double-doubles, Kraemer had nine kills and hit .316, and sophomore Brianna Reder (Maineville, Ohio) had six kills while hitting .294.

In the opener, the Panthers hit .235, but Drury tallied a .309 attack percentage. ODU was also hurt but eight service errors.

Thompson recorded 12 kills, while Kraemer had six in 10 swings. Slavin tallied 20 assists and eight digs as well to lead ODU.

Ohio Dominican returns to GLIAC play at Northern Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu