HOUGHTON, Mich. – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team held on in the fifth set to score a 3-2 (25-23, 26-24, 20-25, 25-27, 15-8) win at Michigan Tech Saturday afternoon in GLIAC, moving into second place in the GLIAC South Division standings with the win.

The Panthers improved to 9-8 (7-4 GLIAC) with the victory, while Michigan Tech fell to 8-9 (6-5 GLIAC).

The fifth set was tied at 4-4, but three consecutive errors by MTU put the Panthers in front 7-4. The Huskies drew within 9-7, but a kill by senior Caitlin Kusan (Westerville, Ohio) made it 10-7. Another Huskie error gave ODU a four point edge, and a kill by junior Kelsey Fortney (Lorain, Ohio) and a block by senior Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio) gave the Panthers a seven point cushion en route to a 15-8 win the fifth frame. The Panthers hit .269 in the set, committing just one hitting error.

ODU had a season-best 66 kills and also finished with 103 digs, the most by the team since the 2009 season (129 vs. Malone).

Kraemer led four Panthers in double figures in kills with her 16 (.237 hitting percentage), while sophomore Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) had 14 kills with a .324 attack percentage. Kusan recorded 13 kills and senior Brianna Reder (Maineville, Ohio) chipped in with 10 as well.

Fortney set a new career high with 36 assists and she also had 10 digs. Senior Lauren Rindler (Rossburg, Ohio) had a career best 37 digs, and freshman Ciara Ralston (Findlay, Ohio) also had a personal best with 25 digs. Freshman Ashlin Aiken (Onsted, Mich.) added 19 assists and eight digs.

The Panthers jumped to a 9-4 lead in the first set after a block by Oestreich and Kraemer, but the Huskies came back to tie it at 13-13 and would eventually grab a 23-21 lead. Ralston had a kill and Kusan and Kraemer teamed up on a block to tie it at 23, and kills by Kraemer and junior Tory Thompson (Quincy, Ohio) completed the comeback to give the Panthers a 25-23 win.

The second frame was just as tight. Tied at 16, a kill by Kraemer, a block by Oestreich and an ace by Aiken gave the Panthers a 19-16 lead. Michigan Tech tied the score at 20, but ODU seemed to regain control with a 4-1 run of its own to go in front 24-21. The Huskies answered with three straight points to tie it, but Kusan and Kraemer had consecutive kills to put the Panthers up 2-0 in the match.

ODU then jumped to a 10-4 lead in the third set, but the Huskies ripped off a 12-1 run to go in front by five and controlled the set from there, winning by a score of 25-20.

The fourth set was within two points for the majority of action. Down 16-14, ODU forged a tie at 16-16, and the teams swapped blows down the stretch. ODU grabbed leads of 22-21, 23-22 and 24-23, but could not close out the set as the Huskies recovered to take a 27-25 win.

Ohio Dominican will play four matches on Friday and Saturday at the GLIAC/GLVC Crossover Tournament in Aurora, Ill., with the full schedule of games to come out in the coming days.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu