Box Score
Ohio Wesleyan 3, DePauw 0

Sophomore outside hitter Natalie Dieball (Cincinnati/Lakota East) and senior middle blocker Claire Solberg (Huron) recorded 5 kills apiece and second-seeded Ohio Wesleyan turned in a school-record-setting performance during the first set, and the Bishops went on to complete a sweep of third-seeded DePauw in a North Coast Athletic Conference tournament semifinal match on Friday in Granville.

The Bishops won the match by scores of 25-3, 25-23, 25-19.  The 3 points allowed by Ohio Wesleyan in the first set broke the school record for fewest points allowed in a set (5), set against Finlandia on Sept. 9, 2012.

With the win, Ohio Wesleyan advances to the NCAC tournament championship match against top-seeded Denison, a 3-1 winner over fourth-seeded Wittenberg on Friday in the other semifinal.  Ohio Wesleyan will be competing in the tournament championship match for the first time since 1999.  Saturday's match is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.  The winner of that match will receive the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament.

Ohio Wesleyan raced to a 12-1 lead in the first set, with Dieball kills accounting for 4 of the Bishops' first 5 points.  Another Dieball kill, 2 Solberg kills, and a pair of aces from senior middle blocker Ava Kutilek (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) helped the Bishops to the 12-1 advantage.  Solberg led the way from there, collecting 3 kills and 4 blocks, and Dieball contributed 3 aces while serving up the final 8 points of the set.

The Tigers bounced back in the second set and the teams played so evenly that when DePauw took a 15-12 lead on an Olivia Karwin kill, it represented the largest lead by either team to that point of the set.  Ohio Wesleyan responded by scoring the next 5 points, getting a pair of kills from Solberg, a pair of aces from Dieball, and a kill from junior setter Lily Bechina (Chicago, Ill. Jones/College Prep) to take the lead for good.  DePauw closed to within 22-21 on a Riley Kamer service ace, and after the teams traded points twice, Dieball delivered a set-ending kill for a 2-0 Bishop lead.

DePauw got a kill from Karwin to go up, 2-0, in the third set, but Ohio Wesleyan scored the next 12 points, with Solberg collecting a kill, 3 blocks, and an assist and Kutilek zipping a pair of aces while serving up 11 straight points.  Kenzie Myers had 2 kills and a block and Kerry O'Connor had a pair of blocks to help the Tigers close to within 15-9, and DePauw later assembled a 10-2 run that included 2 kills and a block from Karwin and 2 kills from Madeline Ozersky to pull within 21-19.  The Bishops scored the next 4 points, getting kills from Kutilek, Dieball, and senior right-side hitter Grace Cummings (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) before a Kutilek ace closed out the set and the match.

Dieball led the Bishops with 12 kills and 6 aces, while Solberg finished with 11 kills and a team-high 10 blocks, with the latter figure tying the school record set by Kim Klumb in 2 games against Otterbein on Sept. 21, 1990, and equaled by Klumb against Bethany the following day and then by Megan Margala at Kenyon on Sept. 28, 2005.  Bechina finished with 30 assists.  Sophomore defensive specialist Avery Krause (Cleveland/Holy Name) had a team-high 12 digs.

Box Score