Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Ohio Wesleyan 3, Trine 0
Ohio Wesleyan 3, Bethany 1

Junior outside hitter Melissa Murray (Chardon/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) and senior outside hitter Eliza Richardson (Lakewood) highlighted the Ohio Wesleyan offense as the Bishops swept a pair of matches on the way to winning the Bishop Invitational title on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The Bishops defeated Trine by scores of 25-12, 25-16, 25-13, and defeated Bethany by scores of 25-16, 20-25, 25-14, 25-14.  The two wins moved the Bishops to 3-0 in the tournament, with Trine finishing 2-1, Bethany 1-2, and Anderson 0-3, giving Ohio Wesleyan its first Bishop Invitational title since 2017.

Ohio Wesleyan went on a 16-0 run to take charge in the first set against Trine, turning a 6-3 deficit into a 19-6 lead, with the help of 3 kills from Richardson and 2 apiece from Murray and sophomore middle blocker Ava Kutilek (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier).  Sophomore middle blocker Claire Solberg (Huron) had 2 kills and sophomore right-side hitter Grace Cummings (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) and junior outside hitter Kaitlyn Peters (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) recorded aces as the Bishops opened the second set with a 6-2 run and went on to the win.  Peters zipped 2 aces and Cummings added another during an 8-2 run to start the third set and Ohio Wesleyan went on to complete the sweep.

Richardson led the Bishops with 10 kills, while Kutilek and Murray added 6 apiece.  Freshman setter Lily Bechina (Chicago, Ill./Jones College Prep) dished out 25 assists.  Solberg recorded 3 blocks.  Junior defensive specialist Neah White (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) led Ohio Wesleyan with 10 digs.

Against Bethany, the Bishops opened the match with a 7-1 run that included 3 kills and a block by Solberg and went on to take the set.  The Bison evened the match by taking the second set, breaking a 12-12 tie with a 6-0 burst that featured 3 kills from Olivia Koehler.  Peters had back-to-back kills to break an 8-8 tie and kick off a 15-3 Ohio Wesleyan run in the third set, and in the fourth set, Murray collected 3 kills and Peters added 2 kills and a block down the stretch to help the Bishops finish off the set and the match.

Murray had a team-high 16 kills and Peters finished with 13 to go with a team-best 17 digs.  Bechina recorded 45 assists.  Solberg had a team-high 4 blocks.

Box Score - Ohio Wesleyan-Trine
Box Score - Ohio Wesleyan-Bethany