MARQUETTE, Mich. – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team couldn't shake off a slow start as the Panthers fell 3-1 (13-25, 22-25, 25-22, 22-25) Friday night at Northern Michigan in GLIAC play.

With the setback, ODU fell to 10-11 (4-6 GLIAC), while the Wildcats improved to 14-9 (6-4 GLIAC).

The Panthers hit just .075 in the match, including a -.276 clip in the first frame and .059 in the second, while NMU finished with a .224 attack percentage.

Freshman Tory Thompson (Quincy, Ohio) led ODU with 10 kills and sophomore Lauren Rindler (Rossburg, Ohio) tallied a season-best eight kills to lead the Panthers.

After dropping the first set, ODU found itself down 21-14 in the second before staging a late rally. Two kills by Rindler and another by Thompson cut the Panther deficit to 23-22, but the Wildcats scored the last two points to close the set.

The third set was one of the tightest contested of the season for ODU, with 16 ties and eight lead changes. The Panthers registered 13 kills and swatted .344 in the set, finally breaking free with the set tied at 20. Freshman Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio) had a kill and sophomore Bailey Barker (Muncie, Ind.) had an ace to make it 22-20.

Rindler had another kill, and sophomore Caitlin Kusan (Westerville, Ohio) sealed the set with another termination to get the Panthers back in the match.

There were seven ties and two lead changes in the fourth frame, but a late Wildcat surge put NMU in control. Knotted at 15, NMU scored the next three points, and the Panthers would draw no closer for the remainder of the set.

Freshman Darby Slavin (Columbus, Ohio) had 38 assists and Barker had 15 assists to pace the Panthers.

Ohio Dominican concludes its Upper Peninsula trip with a 1 p.m. match Saturday at Michigan Tech.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu