DELAWARE, Ohio – The Ohio Wesleyan University volleyball team (7-5, 1-0 NCAC) hosted John Carroll (10-3, 0-1 NCAC) for their conference opener on Saturday afternoon. The Battling Bishops took home the win in three sets to start out on top of the NCAC table, finishing strong with a 12-point victory in set three aided by a 15-0 run.
The Bishops took an early lead in set one, starting 8-4 and building to a seven-point advantage at 18-11. The Blue Streaks then managed to make a comeback to tie up the set 21-21. Ohio Wesleyan pulled through to win the set 25-21 thanks to a 4-0 run, capped off by an ace by
Avery Krause for the 24th point and a block by Abby Nuph and
Jaelyn Taylor to secure the 25th point.
The second set was neck-and-neck in the early going until OWU gained a 15-10 lead following a four-point run. The Bishops maintained their five-point advantage despite some back-and-forth and ultimately ended with a seven-point win at 25-18.
JCU seemed eager to force a fourth after a 5-1 start in set three. Ohio Wesleyan would tie it up at 5-5 and keep it within one point until it was 9-8 John Carroll. From then on out, it was all Bishops as the Red and Black embarked on a 15-0 run led by Krause from the service line. Krause collected three aces during her serving streak, with Nulph,
Megan Lantis, and
Natalie Dieball controlling things at the net. The Battling Bishops then wrapped things up at 25-13 to complete the sweep.
THE NUMBERS
Ohio Wesleyan collected 50 kills compared to John Carroll with 29. The Bishops notched nine service aces while the Blue Streaks had five. OWU also accomplished 52 digs compared to JCU's 48. Ohio Wesleyan had a high amount of assists with 47 compared to John Carroll's 25.
Jordanne Shannon led the attack with 14 kills.
Natalie Dieball followed with 11 and
Megan Lantis with 10.
Avery Krause was the leader of aces with a season-high five.
Jenna Ashbrook achieved two.
Abby Nulph acquired the most blocks with three and
Jaelyn Taylor was close behind with two.
Ashbrook had the highest number of assists with 23, accompanied by Taylor with 20.
Krause led with 16 digs.
Sarah Thomas had 11 and Dieball tailed 10.
UP NEXT
The Red and Black host Baldwin Wallace on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for their annual Morgan's Message Game.
