CHARLESTON, W.VA. – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team suffered a pair of defeats in the first day of competition at the Charleston Invitational, falling 3-2 to Alderson-Broaddus (18-25, 25-14, 25-19, 24-26, 10-15) and 3-1 to host Charleston (15-25, 16-25, 25-11, 23-25) on Friday.

ODU's record is now even at 3-3 on the season.

In the opener, the Panthers rallied from a first set defeat to A-B by playing strong in the middle two frames, hitting a combined .358 in the second and third sets to take a 2-1 lead in the match. In the second set, the Panthers used a 6-1 run early to create separation and a 12-6 lead after consecutive kills from junior Brianna Reder (Maineville, Ohio). ODU continued to pull away to take the 25-14 win.

In the third set, it was a 5-0 ODU run that gave the Panthers a 14-9 advantage, with freshman Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) and Reder chipping in with kills and freshman Megan Hendershot (Galloway, Ohio) contributing a pair of aces. The Battlers came back and would draw within a point, 20-19, but the Panthers closed the set with five straight points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

ODU had a chance to close out Alderson-Broaddus in the fourth, fighting back from an 18-14 deficit to take a 23-21 lead after a kill by sophomore Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio) and an errant A-B set.

But the Battlers responded, scoring five of the final six points to take the fourth set, then jumping out to an 8-4 lead in the decisive fifth set to seal the match.

ODU hit .259 in the match but struggled defensively as the Battlers finished with a .347 attack percentage.

In the nightcap against Charleston, the Panthers struggled early, falling in a 2-0 hole after committing 17 hitting errors in the first two sets.

ODU bounced back in the third, though, as an 11-0 run saw the Panthers push a 10-6 lead to 21-6 in an instant. Hendershot had three service aces during the stretch while Kraemer had three kills during the run as well.

The fourth set came down to the wire as ODU chipped away at a 19-14 deficit, tying the set at 21 on Kraemer's termination. UC answered with three straight points to make it 24-21, but ODU hung close with an ace by sophomore Kelsey Fortney (Lorain, Ohio) cutting the score to 24-23.

However, UC closed the match with a kill on the next point to erase ODU's comeback hopes.

Ohio Dominican returns to action with two matches Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. against Edinboro.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu