John Carroll is making a habit of making matches interesting.

The good news is that the Blue Streaks are making interesting matches end in their favor. After digging a two sets to one hole, JCU dug out and prevailed in five hard-fought frames against host Capital University Saturday in Bexley, Ohio.

John Carroll won by the scores of 21-25, 28-26, 18-25, 25-20, 15-12.

The victory today marked the Blue Streaks' 20th win of the season -- the first time JCU has reached that mark since 2001.

John Carroll held an early 6-4 lead in the opening frame, but with the score tied 9-9, the host Crusaders embarked on an 11-5 run to take the lead for good. JCU pulled to within 22-20, but Capital scored three of the last four points to take the set. The Blue Streaks' eight errors were a contributing factor in the loss.

Capital looked poised to open a 2-0 lead when it burst out of the gate to a 13-6 start in the second game. Capital still held a six-point lead at 22-16 when the Blue Streaks produced the pivotal run of the match. With Kit O'Shaughnessy serving, JCU pulled to within one point at 22-21 with the sophomore setter throwing in a pair of aces to help spark the drive.

John Carroll faced a aset point at 24-22, but rebounded and took the set at 28-26 when Julianne McGervey's kill sealed the deal.

After the Crusaders rolled to a 25-18 in the third frame, the Blue Streaks showed resiliency with their backs to the wall. JCU trailed briefly in game four, at 2-1, before surging ahead 6-2 and never looking back from there.

The drama of game five heightened when the Blue Streaks fell behind early at 3-1, but the visitors battled back to take a 5-3 advantage. After that, the score was tied at 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 10-10 and 11-1 before the Blue Streaks produced one last closing rush. Kills by Leah Switalski and Sarah Orlandi and a service ace by Mena Afsarifard positioned JCU to a match point at 14-11. Capital staved off one close out attempt, but Orlandi put down a clinching kill.

John Carroll (20-5, 6-1 OAC) stayed in a three-way tie for first place with Mount Union and Otterbein atop the OAC with the victory. Switalski had 20 kills, O'Shaughnessy delivered 51 assists and Sara Kaminski contributed 24 digs to lead JCU.

Capital, which fell to 10-18 overall and 2-5 in league play, was paced by 18 kills from Mona Ratliff.

JCU is now 3-3 this season in five-set matches after starting out the season 0-3 in that category.