NORTH CANTON, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team lost a tough battle with host Walsh, falling 3-1 (17-25, 25-22, 19-25, 16-25) in GLIAC play Friday.

The setback dropped ODU to 12-16 (6-11 GLIAC), while the Cavaliers improved to 10-15 (7-10).

Senior Kristy Birkemeier (Columbus Grove, Ohio) and freshman Tory Thompson (Quincy, Ohio) both had 15 kills and sophomore Caitlin Kusan (Westerville, Ohio) and freshman Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio) tallied eight. As a team, the Panthers hit .168, while the Cavaliers hit .222 as a squad.

The Panthers managed just nine kills in the first set while Walsh tallied 13 kills while hitting .226 as a team.

ODU jumped to an 8-2 advantage and led by as much as six in the second set. A Panther attacking error and a Cavalier kill by Krissy Sokol put Walsh within two (24-22) and threatened a comeback, but Birkemeier put a stop to that with a set-sealing attack to take the second set 25-22.

The Cavaliers would not go quietly, as they took the third and fourth sets25-19, 25-16 respectively. Walsh tallied a set-high 17 kills and a team hitting percentage of .469 in the fourth set.

Freshman Darby Slavin (Columbus, Ohio) dished out 22 assists while freshman Kelsey Fortney (Lorain, Ohio) contributed 20. Sophomore Bailey Barker (Muncie, Ind.) had a team-best 16 digs.

Ohio Dominican's volleyball team remains in Canton to close out the season at 2 p.m. Saturday at Malone.