OBERLIN, Ohio – The Ohio Wesleyan University volleyball team (14-9, 6-1 NCAC) secured a share of the 2026 NCAC Championship with a 3-1 win at Oberlin (4-15, 2-5 NCAC) on Saturday afternoon. The Bishops split the crown with Wittenberg after finishing conference play with identical 6-1 records. It is OWU's third NCAC Championship title.
The Battling Bishops pulled out to a 6-2 lead in set one thanks to services aces by
Megan Lantis and
Abby Nulph as well as a pair of kills by
Jordanne Shannon. Ohio Wesleyan extended its lead to 12-5 with a 6-1 run featuring a kill and an ace by
Natalie Dieball. The Bishops closed it out 25-17 with steady play and kill by Nulph on set point.
Set two was the only in which the Bishops received major pushback. After starting up 8-6, OWU surrendered the lead following a 12-2 run by the Yeowomen as the score flipped to 17-10 in favor of the hosts. The Red and Black responded with a 10-2 streak of their own to tie the set back up at 20-20, capped off by back-to-back kills from
Anna Kenealy. Oberlin nabbed five of the last eight points to take the set in a close 25-23 final.
Momentum swung again in sets three and four as the Battling Bishops clocked 11- and 10-point wins to take the match 3-1. Set three was highlighted by an 8-2 OWU run to end it 25-14, finished off with a pair of Yeowomen attack errors. Likewise, 7-0 and 6-0 runs in set four gave the Bishops an advantage they would never surrender.
THE NUMBERS
Ohio Wesleyan led 41-37 in kills, 13-4 in aces, 10-5 in blocks, 34-33 in assists, and 58-43 in digs.
Natalie Dieball led the OWU offense with 12 kills.
Jordanne Shannon finished with nine, followed by
Abby Nulph with eight.
Sydney Dales and Nulph both led the Bishops with three service aces.
Nulph led the defensive front with six blocks, followed by
Jaelyn Taylor with five and
Anna Kenealy with four.
Taylor tallied 20 assists, followed by Ashbrook with 14.
Avery Krause had the highest dig total of the match, finishing with 21. Dales collected 11 and Dieball had eight.
UP NEXT
With the two-seed wrapped up, OWU will face either DePauw or Oberlin in the NCAC Tournament semifinals on November 13 in Springfield. Before that, the Bishops will finish off the regular season with a match at Ohio Northern on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and senior night against Otterbein on Friday at 7 p.m.
