CANTON, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team battled to a 3-2 win over host Malone in their regular season finale by the scores of 15-25, 25-16, 25-17, 14-25, 15-9 in GLIAC play Saturday.

The win improves ODU's record to 13-16 (7-11 GLIAC), while the Pioneers drop to 18-10 (11-7).

Senior Kristy Birkemeier (Columbus, Ohio) paced the Panther offense with 21 kills, which is just her second match with 20-plus this season. Sophomore Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio) contributed 10. As a team, the Panthers hit .210, while the Pioneers hit .143 as a squad.

ODU managed just nine kills in the first set while Malone tallied 12 while hitting .290 as a team and cruised to a 25-15 win.

Malone jumped to an early 4-2 lead early in the second set, but the Panthers answered with seven quick points to put the Black and Gold up 9-5. From there, ODU never looked back as they never relinquished the lead, taking the second set 25-16.

The Panthers kept their momentum going into the third set and led as much as 11 points, as they coasted to a 25-17 win.

In the fourth set, ODU had just five kills compared to the Pioneers 10, who hit .100 as a team as Malone took the set 25-147.

In the fifth and deciding set, there were four score ties and one lead change. The Pioneers went ahead 5-3 but the Panthers answered back with a four-point run to take the lead 7-5. Both teams traded points until ODU went on a three-point run to capture to win the set 15-9.

Freshman Kelsey Fortney (Lorain, Ohio) dished out 26 assists while freshman Darby Slavin (Columbus, Ohio) contributed 18. Freshman Kelsey Barker (Muncie, Ind.) paced the Panther defense with 19 digs while sister Bailey Barker added 17.

ODU concluded the season with the most wins in program history since joining the Division II ranks and GLIAC in 2010.