Ohio Dominican University

COLUMBUS, Ohio – After a 2-0 start in conference play, the Ohio Dominican Panthers (9-2) hosted the West Liberty Hilltoppers (1-13) on Tuesday (Sept. 15) evening at Alumni Hall for a non-conference battle.

ODU won their 16th straight home game with a 3-1 win over the Hilltoppers. 

• Set 1: ODU 25-23
  • West Liberty struck first with the first point but the Panthers answered with four straight points on three West Liberty errors. ODU led the rest of the way, pushing the lead to as many as five a few different times. After West Liberty called timeout at 20-15, the Hilltoppers closed the gap with four points as they trailed by one point twice (20-19 & 21-20). ODU got to set point with three straight points but a 3-0 West Liberty run, pushed ODU to a timeout up 24-23. After the timeout, Chloe Gels ended the set with a thunderous kill. 
• Set 2: WLU 25-17
  • ODU scored the first point with a Logan Rubel kill but then West Liberty followed with four consecutive points to take the lead. The Hilltoppers held the lead for the rest of the set, leading by as many as nine en route to a 25-17 set two win. 
• Set 3: ODU 30-28
  • This set was a marathon as the teams had 16 ties and 11 lead changes with the set going extra points. ODU trailed twice early but rebounded to get a 12-7 lead - their largest lead of the set. West Liberty scored six of the next seven points to tie the set at 13. Three ties occured before West Liberty opened a 19-17 lead. The set was tied ten more times as neither team was leading by more than a point. After a tie at 28-28, an Annie Fincham kill and an Ava Horn block finished the set for the Panthers. 
• Set 4: ODU 25-19
  • ODU opened with a 5-0 run and ultimately a 9-3 spurt before a 12-6 lead. West Liberty answered with an 8-2 run, gaining a 14-13 lead. The Panthers closed the set with a 12-5 run to finish the match in favor of the Black and Gold. 
• Individual Leaders
  • Kills: Annie Fincham/Chloe Gels (13), Logan Rubel (10)
  • Assists: Tess Hayes (24), Lizzy Larkins (13)
  • Aces: Hayes (3), Lauren Dinunzi (2)
  • Digs: Dinunzi (12), Hayes/Rubel (10)
  • Blocks: Ava Horn (5), Chloe Gels (3), Evelyn Connor (2)
• Team Categories
  • Kills: WLU 51, ODU 48
  • Assists: ODU 42, WLU 39
  • Aces: ODU 9, WLU 4
  • Digs: WLU 76, ODU 61
  • Blocks: WLU 9, ODU 7
  • Hitting %: WLU .167, ODU .140

ODU heads on the road for the next three matches, starting with a matchup with Thomas More on Friday (Sept. 18).