COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team started the GLIAC season on a high note, defeating Malone 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-11) in Alumni Hall on Friday night in both teams' conference opener.

The Panthers (2-4, 1-0 GLIAC) hit .248 and limited Malone (2-4, 0-1 GLIAC) to just an .016 attack percentage. The Pioneers entered the match hitting .189 as a squad.

It was a balanced offensive attack for ODU, with five players recording six or more kills. Freshman Ciara Ralston (Findlay, Ohio) led the way with nine kills, while a trio of senior Panthers in Caitlin Kusan (Westerville, Ohio), Brianna Reder (Mainville, Ohio) and Lauren Rindler (Rossburg, Ohio) each had eight kills.

Sophomore Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) had seven kills and senior Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio) added six as well to pace the offense.

The first set was tight through the midway point, with Malone holding a 15-13 lead. The Panthers went on a 5-1 run, with two kills by Ralston and another by Oestreich helping ODU to an 18-16 lead.

Malone scored the next point, but it was all Panthers from there. Kraemer had two kills and Rindler another to make it 21-18, and an ace by junior Kelsey Fortney (Lorain, Ohio) sealed the set for ODU.

ODU's blockers then controlled action in the second and third frames, as Malone managed just 13 kills with 21 errors in 82 attacks in the two sets. The Pioneers jumped to a 9-4 lead in the second and had a 15-12 lead midway through, but ODU ripped off nine of the next 10 points to go in front 21-16. The Panthers had three blocks and four kills in that run, and ODU fended off a late Pioneer rally to take the set 25-23.

The Panthers used a 5-1 run in the third set to go in front 11-6, then continued to pull away throughout the set as Malone never drew closer than four points after that. ODU hit .438 in the set, recording 14 kills without an error in 32 attacks.

Rindler had 16 digs and five assists to go along with her eight kills. Fortney finished with a double-double with 19 assists and 13 digs. Sophomore Megan Hendershot (Galloway, Ohio) had 18 digs, and Kusan totaled nine blocks.

Overall, ODU tallied 47 kills to Malone's 23 and finished with 11 total team blocks to none for the Pioneers.

ODU continues GLIAC play with a 2 p.m. match Saturday against Walsh in Alumni Hall.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu