DETROIT – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team continued its winning ways as the Panthers earned a 3-1 (16-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-20) victory at Wayne State Friday night in GLIAC play.

The Panthers have now won four straight matches and are 5-4 overall (3-0 GLIAC). It's the best start to a GLIAC season in the program's five years. Wayne State fell to 2-5 (0-3 GLIAC) with the loss.

ODU finished with eight fewer kills than the Warriors (50-42), but took advantage of 15 service errors while continuing its recent string of strong play at the net, tallying 7.5 total team blocks.

Sophomore Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) notched 11 kills while hitting .321. Senior Caitlin Kusan (Westerville, Ohio) added nine kills with four service aces and freshman Ciara Ralston (Findlay, Ohio) finished with eight.

Junior Kelsey Fortney (Lorain, Ohio) paced the offense with 22 assists and a trio of Panthers had 10 or more digs. Senior Lauren Rindler (Rossburg, Ohio) had 14, junior Tory Thompson (Quincy, Ohio) had 12 and Ralston chipped in with 10.

After tallying just eight kills and hitting .031 in the first set, the Panthers came out strong in the second frame. ODU started on a 5-1 run, capped by a pair of Kusan aces, and never trailed in the set. The Warriors hung around and trailed just 21-18, but kills from Kusan and Oestreich down the stretch helped ODU pull away. Kusan totaled five kills in the second set and three aces as well.

The third set was the most highly contested, featuring 12 ties and five lead changes. Neither team gained much traction, but Wayne State did pull in front 16-13 at the midway point.

From there, it was all ODU, as the Panthers answered with a 7-0 burst. Oestreich had two kills and a block and Ralston also had a kill in the streak that put the Panthers in front 20-16, and the Warriors never drew within three points after that.

The Panthers fell behind 11-8 in the fourth set but rebounded nicely again to close out the match. Oestreich and Ralston teamed up on a block to tie it at 11-11, and a kill by Ralston, an ace by freshman Ashlin Aiken (Onsted, Mich.) and another Oestreich termination gave the Panthers a lead they would not relinquish at 17-13.

Overall, the Panthers hit .155 in the match, while Wayne State did hit .179.

Ohio Dominican remains on the road to take on Saginaw Valley at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu