Box Score
Ohio Wesleyan 3, DePauw 2

Senior right-side hitter Grace Cummings (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) and senior middle blocker Claire Solberg (Huron) contributed 4 kills apiece during the fourth set as Ohio Wesleyan rallied to force a fifth set, and Cummings and sophomore outside hitter Natalie Dieball (Cincinnati/Lakota East) had 2 kills each during the fifth set as the Bishops defeated DePauw in a North Coast Athletic Conference match on Tuesday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The Bishops won the match by scores of 25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-11.  The win moves Ohio Wesleyan into a tie for second place in the NCAC with DePauw and Wittenberg, each with a 4-2 record, while sending the NCAC championship to Denison.  The top 2 seeds will receive first-round byes in the upcoming NCAC tournament.

Ohio Wesleyan led, 18-14, in the first set but saw DePauw close to within 20-19 with the help of kills from Kaiden Harrington and Olivia Karwin.  The Bishops countered by scoring the next 4 points as Dieball and Solberg each had a kill and teamed up on a block, and after the Tigers pulled within 24-22 on a block by Karwin and Ashley Haas, Ohio Wesleyan scored the final point on a service error.

It was DePauw with a late rally in the second set, getting a pair of kills from Haas as the visitors turned a 22-20 deficit into a 24-22 lead before a Harrington kill provided the final point.  The Tigers assembled another late 4-0 run in the third set, with Kenzie Myers and Belle Shelton kills helping DePauw erase a 20-16 deficit.  A Harrington kill helped DePauw take a 24-22 lead, and after a Dieball kill made it 24-23, DePauw scored the final point on a service error.

Kills by Cummings and Dieball helped the Bishops break an 18-18 tie in the fourth set, and Ohio Wesleyan led, 23-20. after another Cummings kill.  The Tigers pulled to within 23-22 with the help of a Harrington kill, but Solberg came through with back-to-back kills to close out the set and send the match to a fifth set.  A Solberg kill broke a 10-10 tie and put the Bishops ahead to stay in the fifth set, and with Ohio Wesleyan leading 12-10, Dieball delivered 2 kills before a ending the match with a service ace.

Solberg finished with 12 kills and a team-high 5 blocks, while Cummings and Dieball had 10 kills apiece.  Sophomore outside hitter Mason Campbell (Columbus/Pickerington Central) led the balanced Ohio Wesleyan offense with 13 kills, and senior middle blocker Ava Kutilek (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) also had 10 kills.  Junior setter Lily Bechina (Chicago, Ill./Jones College Prep) recorded 46 assists.  Sophomore defensive specialist Avery Krause (Cleveland/Holy Name) had 23 digs.

Box Score