DELAWARE, Ohio – The Ohio Wesleyan University volleyball team (13-9, 5-1 NCAC) faced off with DePauw (18-6, 4-2 NCAC) on Wednesday night at home, battling it out for sole ownership of second place in the conference standings with less than two weeks to go until tournament time. It took all five sets to decide a winner between the two teams who came in with identical 4-1 conference records, but in the end, the Bishops sent the Tigers home 3-2.
Set one did not go OWU's way following 7-0 and 9-0 runs for DePauw, leading to set point at 24-11. The Battling Bishops took one consolation point before the Tigers closed it out 25-12.
DePauw worked out to a 16-12 lead in set two before the Bishops started to string points together and close the gap. The Red and Black took it to 20-20 after a kill by
Natalie Dieball and a couple errors by DePauw. The Tigers then took a two-point lead which they kept until set point at 24-22.
Kills by
Jaelyn Taylor and
Jordanne Shannon would tie it back up at 24-24 before the Bishops claimed a late lead in extras at 26-25 with an ace by
Megan Lantis. Another kill by Shannon coupled with a DePauw attack error made the difference as the Red and Black took the second set 29-27.
The Tigers went back ahead in set three after claiming a 21-11 lead. OWU put six points together to close the deficit to a more manageable four, but that was as close as it would get, ending 25-20.
Momentum swung again in set four when the Battling Bishops pulled out to a 12-7 lead following a pair of kills by Dieball and Taylor. The Tigers brought it back to within one before Ohio Wesleyan went on a 7-1 run that featured three kills by Shannon and back-to-back aces by
Abby Nulph. Dieball provided the dagger with a kill on set point for the 25-19 win.
The early going of set five was about as back-and-forth as could be, ultimately leading to an 11-11 tie after 22 points. OWU would claim four of the last six points to take the set 15-13 and win the match, ending on an emphatic kill by
Abby Nulph.
THE NUMBERS
The match saw 385 total attacks with 127 total kills alongside 10 total service aces and 16 total blocks. OWU led on the offensive end: 67-60 in kills and 62-55 in assists. DePauw had the edge on the defensive end and from the service line: 6-4 in aces, 10-6 in blocks, and 93-86 in digs.
Natalie Dieball and
Jordanne Shannon tied for the team lead with 16 kills each. Nulph followed with 14 as the Bishops set a new season high with 67 as a team.
Nulph finished with two service aces.
Megan Lantis and
Sydney Dales each had one.
Nulph also led the defensive front with three blocks, followed by
Anna Kenealy with two and Dieball with one.
Jenna Ashbrook collected 30 assists to lead the Battling Bishops, followed closely by
Jaelyn Taylor with 24.
Dieball led the defense with 18 digs. Ashbrook and
Avery Krause each finished with 14.
UP NEXT
Ohio Wesleyan will head to Oberlin on Saturday, playing at 1 p.m.
