In the tournament held at Hiram this past weekend, the Blue Streaks had two victories that required a decisive fifth set.

Turns out it was good practice for tonight's marathon.

John Carroll University hosted Ohio Wesleyan University in the first matchup between the two programs since 2015. The back-and-forth affair would go the distance, and the Blue and Gold would prevail in the end (22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 12-25, 15-9).

The first set of action saw runs on both sides early on.  The Blue Streaks jumped to an early 9-4 lead despite battling out long points with the Battling Bishops. After an OWU timeout, the Battling Bishops hit their stride and uncorked an 8-1 run, forcing John carroll head coach Michele Benoit to call a timeout with her squad down 12-10. John Carroll climbed back to tie it at 15, but Ohio Wesleyan created a gap that was insurmountable, and took the first set 25-22. Paige Hale led the way for Ohio Wesleyan with six kills.
 
Both teams came out aggressively in the second set, furiously pounding the ball at each other, seeing who would give.  JCU switched to a more finessed approach with a Cianciolo ace and a soft Calamunci attack to the back of Ohio Wesleyan's zone as a part of a three point run, putting the Blue Streaks up, 15-11. After continual tough volleyball on both sides, OWU battled back to get within two points, forcing a JCU timeout to regroup with the Streaks leading 22-20. JCU responded by taking three of the final four points of the game to claim a 25-21 win. Calamunci had four kills in seven attempts to lead John Carroll in game two.

The third set proved to be more of the same as the previous two. The gritty battle continued as both teams tried to go into the fourth set with a two sets to one lead. JCU would start to pull away, however, with a 17-13 lead, which lead to a timeout from OWU. The Blue Streaks kept their momentum after the stoppage. They won the set 25-20 with big contributions from Calamunci (five kills), Brooke Hjerpe (four kills) and Sarah Calabrese (four kills, two aces, five digs).

Facing a possible decisive set, Ohio Wesleyan would come out firing in the fourth set. The Battling Bishops jumped out to a 13-7 lead, causing a timeout from JCU. Ohio Wesleyan kept their form afterwards, and extended their lead in the fourth set 22-11. After another timeout from John Carroll, they score another point, but it would not be enough as Ohio Wesleyan took the fourth set 25-12, setting up a winner take all fifth frame.The Battling Bishops turned in their best effort of the night at the net, recording four team blocks, led by Amelia Richardson who had two solo stops and one assisted block.

Momentum shifted throughout the match, and the fifth set would prove to be no different. Neither team had a lead of more than three points in the final set. That would hold until JCU took a 10-6 lead, and OWU took a timeout to regroup. The Battling Bishops were able to narrow the gap to within two points at 11-9, but John Carroll rolled from there. Needing one more point to secure a victory, Ally Bartolone assisted Calamunci on her team-high 15th kill, and the Blue and Gold earned the hard fought victory.

The Blue Streaks had 48 kills in the contest, with Calamunci leading the team in that category. Also reaching double figures were Hjerpe (13) and Calabrese (11). Cianciolo finished the match with three service aces and 24 digs. JCU had six block assists, and Carleen Ellerbruch accounted for half of them with three on the evening.

With the victory, John Carroll moves to 10-4 on the season. Ohio Wesleyan falls to 5-8.

The Blue Streaks will next face the Polar Bears of Ohio Northern University on Tuesday, September 25, at 7:30 P.M. to start OAC play.