On the fringe of extending host Capital to the limit, John Carroll saw its upset bid dashed by a strong finishing kick from the Crusaders who scored six of the final seven points in a 29-27, 18-25, 25-15, 25-23 win in Ohio Athletic Conference play Tuesday night.

Box Score

The opening game could have been over in regulation, but the Blue Streaks scored seven straight points after being down 24-18 to take a 25-24 lead. But Capital regrouped and closed out the game by winning five of the next seven points.

Game two was a JCU victory from wire-to-wire. The Blue Streaks got three consecutive kills from Kerry Fox (Western Springs, IL, Lyons Township), Melanie Rodriguez (Willoughby, OH, Beaumont High School) and Jessica Hammer (Moreland Hills, OH, Gilmour Academy) to start the set and would cruise to a seven-point triumph to even the match.

The Crusaders turned the tables in game three, bursting to a 12-4 lead on their way to a 25-15 rout.

JCU held a number of three-point leads in game four, but could never dash away from the host squad. The Blue Streaks made one last move in taking a 22-19 lead, but Capital's final kick closed out the match.

Capital (15-9, 4-0) was led by the unstoppable Allison Hostetler, who had 26 kills and no errors in 45 attempts.

John Carroll (9-14, 1-3 OAC) was paced by 15 kills from Fox and 14 from MaryEileen Dalton (Chicago, IL, St. Ignatius Prep). Meredith McDiarmid (Strongsville, OH, St. Joseph Academy) had 37 assists and five service aces.