COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Dominican volleyball team went 3-0 over the course of last week to secure their spot in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament. The #7 Panthers will take on the #2 Ashland Eagles in the quarterfinals on Tuesday evening.

About Ohio Dominican
The Black and Gold ended their regular season with a five-game winning streak, including four straight sweeps, to bring their record to 15-13 and their G-MAC mark to 11-8. The Panthers secured the seventh seed in the tournament, their first tournament appearance since the 2021 season.

Outside hitters, Jenna Peters (Vermilion, Ohio) and Lauren Lucas (Grove City, Ohio) netted 40 kills over the three games. Both players averaged 3.64 kills per set with Peters adding four blocks and Lucas grabbing 28 digs. Ashley Aselage (Tipp City, Ohio) followed with 30 kills, snagging six blocks and six digs.

On the defensive end, Kelsey Shoup (Dalton, Ohio) tallied 44 digs, an average of 4.00 digs per set. Shoup notched 20 assists and five service aces. Fellow senior, Alexis Keipert (Burlington, Ky.) added 28 digs with Gabrielle Kirker (Tallmadge, Ohio) accounting for 27 digs.

Kirker led the way with 58 assists, an average of 5.27 assists per set. Kirker also led the team with eight service aces. Saige Avery (Yorkville, Ill.) was right behind her with 54 assists, an average of 4.91 assists per set. Avery is one assist away from 1,000 career assists.

At the net, middle blocker Grace Zinchuk (Schaumburg, Ill.) recorded seven blocks, two solos and five assisted. Zinchuk added 19 kills through the week. Freshman, Ava Horn (Whitehouse, Ohio) grabbed six blocks, one solo and five assisted.

About Ashland
The Eagles secured the South Division Regular season title and the second seed in the tournament after going 22-9 overall and 15-4 in the G-MAC. The Purple and Gold went 1-1 over the weekend, losing at Walsh in three sets and winning at Malone in five sets.

Leading the way for Ashland is Makenna Belcher averaging 3.41 kills per set, ranking fourth in the conference. Belcher netted 32 kills and 17 digs over the two games. Libero, Katie Thompson, recorded 35 digs, bringing her season average to 4.69 digs per set, the fourth best average in the G-MAC.

Setter, Kylee Urban, added 39 assists while Georgi Moody snagged 35 assists. Urban averages 5.59 assists per set to Moody's 3.82 assists per set. Bailey Ruth netted seven blocks, bringing her season total to 125, an average of 1.03 blocks per set.

Earlier this season, the Eagles went 2-0 against the Panthers, winning 3-2 in Columbus, and 3-1 in Ashland. AU is now 15-1 against ODU, dating back to the 2010 season. In the 2021 season, Ashland defeated Ohio Dominican, 3-1, in the G-MAC Semifinals round at Hillsdale.

Game Time
First serve is set  for 6:00 PM on Tuesday evening inside Kates Gymnasium at Ashland University.

G-MAC Championship Central