CANTON, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team had a strong defensive effort but couldn't muster enough on offense as the Panthers fell 3-0 (17-25, 20-25, 19-25) to Malone Friday night in the GLIAC opener.

With the setback, the Panthers dropped to 5-4 (0-1 GLIAC), while Malone improved to 6-3 (1-0).

ODU held Malone to a .135 hitting percentage but finished with a total of just 26 kills themselves in the three sets.

The Pioneers jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first set and didn't look back from there, taking the opening frame by eight points.

In the second set, ODU scored the first three points, and the game was close until the midway point when Malone scored six straight to take an 18-11 lead. ODU would trim it to a two-point set on several occasions, including 22-20 after a Pioneer error, but would draw no closer.

The Panthers hung close in the third set, with kills by freshman Taylor Foster (Ida, Mich.) and sophomore Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio) brought ODU to within a point at 19-18, but Malone pulled away down the stretch to seal the match.

Freshman Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) led the Panthers with seven kills, sophomore Kelsey Fortney (Lorain, Ohio) had 14 assists and classmate Megan Hendershot (Galloway, Ohio) had 20 digs to pace the Panthers.

ODU returns to action at 2 p.m. Saturday to take on Walsh.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu