COLUMBUS, Ohio – After rallying late in the first set, Ohio Dominican's volleyball team continued rolling in the second and third frames to sweep visiting Tiffin 3-0 (30-28, 25-18, 25-20) on Tuesday evening in Alumni Hall.

The Panthers avenged a four set loss earlier this year at Tiffin and improved to 13-13 (6-8 GLIAC), just one game out of eighth place in the hunt for the GLIAC Tournament.

ODU hit .342 in the match with 51 kills against 10 errors. Junior Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) finished with 16 kills and a .552 hitting percentage as she did not commit an error in 29 swings.

The opening set featured 13 ties and eight lead changes as the Panthers fought back from a 22-18 deficit. Two kills by sophomore Ciara Ralston (Findlay, Ohio) and another by Oestreich made it 22-21, and ODU took a 24-23 lead on an ace by junior Taylor Foster (Ida, Mich.) and a kill by Ralston.

The Panthers served for the set at 24-23 and 25-24 but could not close it out, and faced set point at 26-25 and 28-27 from the Dragons. However, ODU tallied the last three points in the set, as senior Tory Thompson (Quincy, Ohio) had a kill, senior Darby Slavin (Columbus, Ohio) had an ace and Tiffin had an attack error to close the set.

ODU hit .395 in the opening set, with 18 kills and just three errors, while Tiffin had 20 kills and hit .295 in the frame.

But ODU stayed in control the rest of the match, as they never trailed or were tied in the second or third sets. The Panthers jumped to an 11-6 lead in the second frame and would lead by as much as eight, with Thompson's kill closing out the set.

That strong play continued into the third set, with ODU jumping out in front 13-4. Tiffin cut it to four on a pair of occasions late but drew no closer.

Thompson finished with 15 kills and hit .303, Ralston added 10 kills while hitting .360, and Slavin finished with 45 assists. That's the most assists Slavin has tallied in a three set match in her career.

Freshman Anna Ficker (Cincinnati, Ohio) led ODU with 14 digs.

It was the fifth time this year Oestreich has not committed an error, and the third time in the last four matches. She has 22 kills in her last 40 swings without an error.

Ohio Dominican is back at home at 7 p.m. Friday against Lake Erie.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu