AURORA, Ill. – Ohio Dominican's volleyball team was again led offensively by the trio of Tory Thompson (Quincy, Ohio), Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) and Kelly Nadler (Leipsic, Ohio), but the Panthers dropped a five set decision to Bellarmine Saturday afternoon to conclude the Midwest Region Crossover.

The Panthers hit .278 in the match, but fell 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 25-15, 25-27, 11-15) in a match that featured 36 ties and 12 lead changes. ODU (7-11) also fell to 0-5 in matches that have gone five sets this fall.

Thompson notched 19 kills while hitting .289, Nadler finished with 18 kills and hit .444, and Oestreich registered 15 kills with a .234 hitting percentage. Oestreich also had 10 block assists.

Freshman Bailey Line (Westerville, Ohio) totaled 53 assists and senior Taylor Foster (Ida, Mich.) led ODU with 20 digs.

The Panthers had a 6-4 lead in the fifth set and were tied 11-11 before the Knights (14-7) scored the final four points to take the match.

The opening set saw seven ties, but the Panthers just trailed on the opening point of the match. Tied at 16-16, Thompson had a kill, Foster followed with an ace, sophomore Patricia Barreto (Findlay, Ohio) added a kill, then Barreto and Thompson combined on a block to make it 20-16. The Knights drew within 24-23 late, but Nadler's kill ended it. ODU hit .367 with 14 kills in the set.

The Panthers led by four (9-5) early in the second set and had a 17-14 lead before BU answered with five straight points to take a 19-17 lead. ODU drew even at 20-20, but BU pulled away down the stretch to take the set.

A 6-0 run in the third frame helped propel the Panthers as ODU erased a 7-6 lead to go in front 12-7. Leading 17-13, ODU scored five consecutive points, capped by an Oestreich kill, to take the set. ODU hit .419 in the frame with 15 kills.

The Panthers again led by three points in the middle of the fourth (16-13), but Bellarmine recovered to go in front 20-18. Facing set point at 24-22, ODU scored twice to knot it up, and stayed tied at 25-25 after a Nadler kill. However, a Bellarmine kill and an ODU hitting error ended the set in the Knights' favor.

Ohio Dominican returns to GLIAC action at Northern Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu