AURORA, Ill. – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team racked up 54 kills in just three sets and hit .269 for the match to defeat Saint Joseph's (Ind.) 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 26-24) Friday in the first match of the GLIAC/GLVC Crossover Tournament.

Three players had 10 or more kills, including sophomore Courtney Braun (Hilliard, Ohio), who finished with a career-best 11. Freshman Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) tallied a match-best 13 kills, hitting .440, while sophomore Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio) hit .370 and finished with 12 terminations.

Sophomore Kelsey Fortney (Lorain, Ohio) had 24 assists and 12 digs, freshman Heidi Hess (Dayton, Ohio) added 22 assists and junior Lauren Rindler (Rossburg, Ohio) registered 19 digs.

Freshman Megan Hendershot (Galloway, Ohio) had 20 digs and senior Bailey Barker (Muncie, Ind.) added 12 as ODU limited the Pumas to just eight kills in the first set.

The opening set was knotted at 13 before Oestreich and Barker teamed up on a block, Barker followed with a kill, and Hendershot recorded a kill from the back row to help give the Panthers a 17-13 advantage. That was part of a 10-2 ODU run, capped off by a kill from Rindler, that helped stake the Panthers to a 23-15 lead.

ODU fell behind 4-0 in the second frame but quickly recovered as Braun would tally a pair of kills to give the Panthers a 10-9 lead, their first of the set. Tied at 12, ODU pulled away with a 4-1 mini-burst as the Panthers would record 18 kills in the set.

The Panthers started the third set red-hot, jumping to an 11-4 lead on consecutive kills from Braun, Oestreich and Rindler. The Pumas climbed back, drawing within 12-11, but the ODU created some separation and took a 20-15 lead on another Oestreich kill.

Again, SJC rallied, tying the set at 21, 22, 23 and 24. But Rindler and freshman Taylor Foster (Ida, Mich.) answered with kills to seal the match for ODU.

ODU returns to action at 6:30 p.m. (ET) tonight against Drury.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu