On Saturday afternoon in Westerville, the Otterbein Cardinals volleyball team took care of business against in-conference foe Baldwin Wallace, defeating the visiting Yellow Jackets, three sets to one.
The win pushed the Lady Cardinals winning streak to four and upped their record to 15-11 and 6-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Otterbein is now in a three-way tie for first with John Carroll and Mount Union.
In the first set, Otterbein started fast, securing the first five points of the set before jumping out to a 9-1 lead. The quick start forced the Yellow Jackets into two early timeouts, one coming at 7-1 and the second at 13-3. Neither one seemed to help very much, as the Cardinals showed no signs of slowing down.
The biggest lead of the set for Otterbein was by 15 at 23-8, at which point Baldwin Wallace showed a little sign of life, going on a run of four consecutive points, sparked by senior Markema Winters. It proved to be too little too late for the Yellow Jackets, as the Cardinals took the first set 25-14.
The second set played out much more competitively, with the teams going back-and-forth. In the entire set, neither team could build a lead of more than three points, which was held by Otterbein three times, first at 12-9, then at 13-10 and finally at 23-20.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, this didn't translate into a win in the set, even though a kill by senior Kendel Kellogg put them just a point away from securing the set at 24-22. Baldwin Wallace once again rallied late, this time behind senior Alayna Chlad, who got the kill to ignite the final four point run, giving the Yellow Jackets a 26-24 victory.
With the two teams tied at a set apiece, they headed into the critical third set that would likely determine the winner of the match. Much like the second set, the teams played tightly in a window that was no wider than four points, which was held by Otterbein just once at 10-6.
This time, a kill by Chald put the Yellow Jackets just a point from securing the set at 24-22, exactly the position Otterbein had been in during the previous set. However, Cardinals coach Monica McDonald called a timeout to rally her troops, and a kill from junior Kasey White sent the Cardinals into comeback mode, tallying three straight points to take a 25-24 lead.
The two teams tied at twenty-five and retied at twenty-six before a bad set by sophomore Sydney Robinson gave the Cardinals the lead at 27-26. Freshman Morgan Lowenkamp came through on the next point with a huge kill that gave the Cardinals a 28-26 win in the set, putting them ahead two sets to one.
For the first five points of the fourth set the game was close at 3-2 Otterbein, but then a string of six errors and three kills from Kellogg ended any hope Baldwin Wallace had of winning the match, as they found themselves down 13-3.
The Cardinals extended their advantage to 13 at 18-5 before they once again climbed to within a point of clinching the match at 24-11. Yet again, the Yellow Jackets had a late run, not making it easy for Otterbein, scoring five straight points, sparked by a kill from Robinson, making the score 24-16.
It was then that Kellogg decided it was time to put an end to the match, as she stepped up and recorded the final kill of the match, giving the Cardinals the 25-16 set win and a three to one win in the match.
Kellogg recorded a career-high 27 kills. However, her huge night was made possible by sophomore Lauren Blumberg, who tallied a career-high 44 assists as well as 17 digs and four kills.
On Tuesday, Otterbein will play Marietta College on the road. At the same time, Mount Union will be playing John Carroll in University Heights. If Otterbein wins and if Mount Union holds off the Blue Streaks, then the matchup between the Cardinals and the Purple Raiders on Halloween night in Alliance will determine the outright winner of the OAC.
