Box Score Looking to win its OAC opener for the first time since 2010 the John Carroll University volleyball team entered with a lot of momentum having won its last six matches.

The Otterbein University's hitters, who entered the match sixth in Division III in kills per set, proved to be no match for the John Carroll defense, led by Sara Kaminski (fifth individually in Division III in digs per set). The 13th-ranked Cardinals utilized two big runs in the first two sets from which the Blue Streaks could not recover from.  

The Blue Streaks fell to 12-7, 0-1 with the 25-16, 25-22, 25-23 loss while the Cardinals improved to 16-4, 1-0.

Leah Switalski led the charge for the Blue Streaks. The freshman had 10 kills while hitting .643 and added two aces. Alexa Webber, also a freshman, contributed 10 kills for the match.

Annie Juenger led Otterbein with 10 of their 38 kills as the Cardinals held Kaminski to just nine digs. Otterbein out-hit John Carroll .321 to .163.

John Carroll quickly mounted a 5-0 run early in the first set to take a 6-4 lead and force the Cardinals to use an early timeout. Otterbein knotted the score at six but Switalski led the charge on a 4-0 run to put the Blue Streaks back up by four. Otterbein found its grove midway through the set and rattled off a 14-2 run to open up a nine-point advantage.  The Cardinals hit a blistering .500 for the opening set.

Otterbein kept up its heavy hitting to start the second set opening up a five-point lead at 10-5 to cap a 9-2 run. A kill and ace by Switalski breathed life into the Blue Streaks as John Carroll responded with a 7-3 run. Two kills by Switalski and a Katie Cosker serve ace gave the Blue Streaks the lead at 16-15. The two teams continued to trade points until kills from Sarah Orlandi and Kit O'Shaughnessy as well as a Kaminski ace gave the Blue Streaks a two-point cushion. The Cardinals had one more run in them with a 5-0 run to close out the set.

After the Cardinals opened up a 10-4 advantage in the third set, Webber and Jessica Kodrich mounted a 4-0 run with two kills and two aces respectively.  A block by O'Shaughnessy and Switalski knotted the set at 20. The Cardinals scored the next three points before Switalski and Alex Ehrett connected on two straight kills forcing Otterbein to call timeout at 23-22. The Cardinals remained poised and closed out the match.