Closing out games had been a problem in recent weeks for the Blue Streaks, but that would not be the case Friday night at the DeCarlo Varsity Center against Otterbein College.

In an Ohio Athletic Conference match between a pair of seventh-place teams, John Carroll had the right stuff at the right time in a 25-22, 25-23, 25-20 victory over the Cardinals. 

Box Score

Of the three games, the middle set was the most closely contested. Tied at 22-22, JCU used a block by MaryEileen Dalton (Chicago, IL, St. Ignatius Prep) and an ace by Meredith McDiarmid (Strongsville, OH, St. Joseph Academy) to go up by two. An attack error would eventually give the Streaks the victory and a 2-0 lead.

JCU held a slim 17-16 lead before a Kerry Fox (Western Springs, IL, Lyons Township) kill and outstanding serving from Jessica Hammer (Moreland Hills, OH, Gilmour Academy) put the Streaks out front 23-16, and cruised to the sweep from there.

John Carroll, which improved to 10-14 overall and 2-3 in the OAC, was paced  by 11 kills from Fox. McDiarmid added team bests in digs (12) and aces (3) on a night in which she became just the third player in program history to reach 3,000 assists with her team leading 25 sets. She joins Beth Cooper (3468 from 2000-2004) and Leslie Mahl (3421 from 1991-1994) in that elite company.

Otterbein (17-7, 1-4 OAC) was led by seven kills and four blocks from the OAC's top hitter Ally Nagle.