COLUMBUS, OH - The red-hot Ohio Dominican volleyball team (11-4, 5-1 G-MAC) extended their winning streak to four straight matches with another dominant sweep, this time over the visiting Thomas More Saints (6-5) inside Alumni Hall. The Panthers have now won eight of their last nine matches, with seven of those victories coming in straight sets.

Senior Jenna Peters was a force on both ends of the court, leading the team with 12 kills and a match-high 15 digs, along with an ace. Setter Saige Avery had a well-rounded performance, tallying 17 assists, 10 kills, and seven digs. Fellow setter Gabrielle Kirker added 19 assists to pace the offense.

Libero Lauren Dinunzi sparked the Panthers at the service line with two aces and contributed six assists. At the net, senior middle hitter Grace Zinchuk was dominant with seven kills and two blocks.

Ohio Dominican controlled the match from start to finish, statistically outpacing Thomas More in every major category. The Panthers scored 27 more points than the Saints, held a slight edge in kills (49-25), dominated in assists (44-23), aces (7-2), blocks (5-3), and digs (46-34). The Panthers finished with a solid .280 team hitting percentage, highlighted by an explosive .367 hitting clip in the first set.

How It Happened
ODU came out with momentum, jumping to a 7-3 lead behind strong serving from Dinunzi. A late 4-0 rally pushed the lead to 20-10, allowing the Panthers to cruise to a 25-16 win in the opening set.

Thomas More came out strong in set two, opening with a 5-0 run and building an early 8-2 lead. However, ODU battled back, sparked by Alyx Snyder's serving and three consecutive kills from Zinchuk to close the gap to 15-14. Behind the tandem of Avery and Kirker setting up key points, the Panthers surged ahead late with a four-point run to take the set 25-20.

ODU maintained control in the third, taking a commanding 15-8 lead. Christen Tarter's consistency at the service line helped the Panthers cap off a 6-0 run mid-set. Though the Saints made a late push, the Panthers held firm to close out the set 25-17 and seal the sweep.

Looking Ahead
The Panthers now set their sights on a key doubleheader this Saturday inside Alumni Hall. ODU will first face off against the (11-2) Cedarville Yellow Jackets at 12 p.m., followed by a non-conference matchup against (6-8) Wheeling at 4 p.m.