ERIE, Pa. – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team found its rhythm with a 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-23) victory over Davis & Elkins (W. Va.) in the finale of the Gannon Invitational on Saturday, the first win of the young season for ODU.

The Panthers bounced back from yesterday's setback to Caldwell (N.J.) and a 3-0 (12-25, 10-25, 22-25) defeat Wisconsin-Parkside earlier in the afternoon to move to 1-2 in 2012.

In the victory, the Panthers hit .280 as a squad, paced by freshman Tory Thompson (Quincy, Ohio) and sophomore Caitlin Kusan (Westerville, Ohio), who both hit .429. Thompson had season-best 15 kills in 28 swings, while Kusan followed with 11 kills in 21 attacks. Freshman Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio) hit the .400 plateau for a third-straight match, tallying eight kills in 15 attacks.

Freshman Darby Slavin (Columbus, Ohio) notched her third-straight double-double with a season-best 29 assists to go along with a team-high 12 digs, classmate Kelsey Fortney (Lorain, Ohio) had 12 assists and sophomore Bailey Barker (Muncie, Ind.) registered 10 digs.

A huge rally in the opening set helped spark the Panther victory over the Senators. Trailing 7-0 early and 18-12 midway through the set, the Panthers scored five straight, with kills by Thompson and Kraemer helping narrow the deficit to one.

ODU drew even at 22 on Slavin's ace, then took its first lead at 24-23 on a bad set by the Senators. D&E tied the game at 24, but a kill by Kusan and an ace from Barker closed the set for the Panthers.

The Panthers led throughout the second set, never trailing as they scored four of the first five points before pushing the lead to 10-4 on a kill by Thompson. The Senators rallied, though, drawing to within a point at 15-14, but ODU eased away down the stretch, with Thompson and Kraemer having ODU's final four kills to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set was nip-and-tuck throughout, with 12 tie scores and a trio of lead changes. ODU played well defensively, limiting D&E to an .070 hitting percentage. Neither team led by more than three points in the set, and with the set tied at 23, ODU took advantage of a pair of Senator errors to close out the win.

In the opening match of the day, the Panthers scuffled on both ends of the court, allowing the Rangers to hit .333 while managing just a .108 attack percentage themselves. Freshman Kelsey Barker (Muncie, Ind.) and Thompson both had seven kills, Kraemer finished with six in 11 attacks, and Slavin had another double-double with team-highs in assists (15) and digs (14). Bailey Barker tallied 11 digs as well.

ODU was competitive in the third set, which featured nine ties and a pair of lead changes, before ultimately succumbing. The Panthers took a 12-11 lead on consecutive kills by Thompson, and the match swung back-and-forth as a kill by Kusan knotted it at 18. However, the Rangers scored the next two points, and ODU was unable to draw even again.

Ohio Dominican returns to Erie next weekend for the Gannon-Mercyhurst Invitational. The Panthers square off against Holy Family (Pa.) and Mercyhurst on Friday, Sept. 7.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu