COLUMBUS, Ohio – In the longest match in the GLIAC this season, Ohio Dominican's volleyball team capped off a wild rally with a 3-2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-18, 22-20) come-from-behind win over visiting Lake Superior State on Saturday in Alumni Hall.

For the Panthers, it was their second five-set victory in which they fought back from being down 2-0, and the win moved ODU to 8-9 on the season (4-5 GLIAC). Lake Superior fell to 4-13 (1-8 GLIAC).

Four Panthers had 10 or more kills, led by the middle hitting duo of sophomore Caitlin Kusan (Westerville, Ohio) and freshman Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio). Kusan had 17 kills and hit .484, while Kraemer tallied 16 kills and a .520 attack percentage.

Freshman Tory Thompson (Quincy, Ohio) registered 13 kills, including seven in the decisive fifth set, and sophomore Brianna Reder (Maineville, Ohio) finished with a season-best 11 kills.

Freshman Darby Slavin (Columbus, Ohio) recorded a season-high 60 assists, which is the most of any GLIAC player this season, entering this weekend's matches.

After scuffling with its serve receive and also serve attempts in the first two sets – the Panthers yielded 10 aces and committed nine service errors to drop the opening two frames – ODU turned its game up a notch to start the third. The Panthers turned a 7-6 lead into a 12-7 advantage and would push its margin to as many as eight points in taking the 25-17 set victory. ODU hit .419 in the set, with 16 kills to just three errors.

The fourth set was close throughout, until the Panthers broke free from a 14-14 deadlock with an 8-2 burst. Kraemer and Reder each had two kills to help spur the run for ODU, which knotted the match at two sets apiece.

ODU carried that momentum into the start of the fifth set, which looked like it would end early as the Panthers jumped to a 9-2 lead. Lake Superior cut it to 9-6 and kept inching its way back into the set as ODU's serve receive issues returned, eventually tying it at 14-14.

ODU had the serve three times with a chance to win it, but the Lakers fought off each match point and would take a 17-16 lead of its own. Kraemer kept ODU alive with a powerful spike, and ODU took a 19-18 on an LSSU error. The Lakers answered with a kill of their own, and after a Panther error, had another match point at 20-19.

Senior Kristy Birkemeier (Columbus Grove, Ohio) delivered a kill to knot it at 20, though, and after a Laker hitting error, sophomore Bailey Barker (Muncie, Ind.) drilled a serve that could not be handled to close the match for ODU.

ODU finished with 72 kills to just 45 for Lake Superior, but the Lakers had 14 service aces and benefited from 18 ODU service errors to take their early lead in the match. The Panthers hit .298, the second-best attack percentage by a GLIAC team in a five-set match, and ODU's 72 kills were a season-high and tied for third-most in the GLIAC this year.

ODU tallied 67 assists as a squad, which was also a season-high and second most in conference play in 2012. The 72 kills were the most the Panthers have had since 2009, when ODU notched 79 in a five-set match with Illinois-Springfield.

Ohio Dominican will head to Illinois for next weekend's GLIAC-GLVC Crossover Tournament. Tournament pairings will be announced later this week.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu