TIFFIN, Ohio – Behind the strength of its second-best defensive efforts of the season, Ohio Dominican's volleyball team swept Tiffin 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-20) Tuesday night in GLIAC action from the Gillmor Center.

The Panthers limited the host Dragons to an .067 attack percentage, the lowest by an opponent since ODU held Saginaw Valley to an .055 clip on Oct. 5.

With the win, Ohio Dominican improved to 11-14 (5-9 GLIAC) and snapped a four game losing skid. The Dragons fell to 8-17 (1-13).

The Panthers hit .211 in the match, highlighted by sparkling performances from sophomore Caitlin Kusan (Westerville, Ohio) and freshman Tory Thompson (Quincy, Ohio). Kusan notched 13 kills and hit .458 in the match, while Thompson chipped in with 11 kills while hitting .257.

Thompson also recorded 24 digs to finish with a double-double, while freshmen Darby Slavin (Columbus, Ohio) and Kelsey Fortney (Lorain, Ohio) tallied 18 and 13 assists, respectively.

ODU led wire-to-wire in the opening set, jumping to a 9-3 lead, and the Panthers would lead by as many as nine points in the set. Kusan had six kills in the set, while senior Kristy Birkemeier (Columbus Grove, Ohio) registered four to pace the Panther offense.

The Panthers then used an 8-2 run to build a cushion in the second set, taking a 13-10 advantage to 21-12 on the strength of consecutive service aces from Kusan as well as a pair of Thompson terminations. The Dragons managed just seven kills and committed eight hitting errors as ODU coasted to the 10-point victory.

The third set was tight early, with nine ties and five lead changes up to the midway point. Trailing 13-12, Thompson knotted it with a kill, the start of a 6-1 run that gave ODU an 18-14 advantage. The lead stretched to six at 21-15 on a block by freshman Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio) and sophomore Brianna Reder (Maineville, Ohio) and the Dragons would get no close than four points for the remainder of the set, with Kusan's spike closing the match.

The win was the fourth in three sets for the Panthers this season, and ODU – despite playing with 11 freshmen and sophomores – already equaled its GLIAC win total from last season with four more matches left to play.

ODU took both matches from Tiffin this season after recording a 3-2 victory over the Dragons on Sept. 25 in Alumni Hall.

Ohio Dominican will take on Lake Erie at 7 p.m. Friday in Painesville.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu