Box Score

With post season hopes on life support, the John Carroll volleyball team mustered one last stand, but it wasn't quite enough in a 3-1 loss to Ohio Northern Friday night at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.

The first set was a rubber-band kind of game. The Polar Bears had an early 3-0 lead but the Blue Streaks quickly closed the gap. As the match progressed, John Carroll continued to counter as many Ohio Northern punches as came in its direction. With the score even at 16-16, Ohio Northern went on a four-point run to make it 19-15.  Behind junior outside hitter Teresa Noewer, JCU responded with a surge of its own, tying the score back up at 19. The Polar Bears rattled off four of the last five, however, to take set one, 25-21. 

Ohio Northern took full control in game two, jumping out to a 14-1 lead. The Polar Bears cruised to a 25-9 win behind Kaitlann Hogrefe (eight total kills).  

The Blue Streaks came back swinging in game three as they had early leads of 8-3 and 15-10. Freshman Sarah Orlandi, who finished the match with 13 kills, executed three of them in this set.  Despite a 22-14 JCU lead, the Polar Bears did not go quietly. ONU started to close the gap--as close as 23-24--before Charlotte Sykora delivered a well placed kill for the game point and a 25-23 final. 

After John Carroll closed to 13-11 on an ace by Sara Kaminski in set four, Ohio Northern scored eight of the next 11 points and the Blue Streaks never recovered. With the 25-15 final tally, the Polar Bears took the crucial set and the match. 

The Blue Streaks, who fell to 10-17, 0-7 in the OAC, will prepare to take on Heidelberg University Tuesday night in Tiffin, Ohio. Game time is 7 p.m.