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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
JCU VB Team
Owen Gerba
The Blue Streaks celebrate their match-clinching point over the Polar Bears, ending a 21 year winless streak against ONU.
1
Ohio Northern ONU 14-6,4-1 OAC
3
Winner John Carroll JCU 16-6,3-2 OAC
Ohio Northern ONU
14-6,4-1 OAC
1
Final
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John Carroll JCU
16-6,3-2 OAC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ohio Northern ONU 17 22 25 21 (1)
John Carroll JCU 25 25 17 25 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | Noah Tylutki, Graduate Assistant

Volleyball Makes History As They Snap 26-Match Losing Streak Against ONU

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- There have been multiple program-defining moments throughout John Carroll athletics in recent memory.

Football snapped Mount Union's 110-game conference winning streak in 2016 while they captured their first Ohio Athletic Conference title since 1994.

Men's soccer beat Ohio Northern in penalty kicks that same year to win their first OAC championship since 2007, which has led to four more in the last five years.

Women's basketball, who was well below .500, upended #15-ranked ONU towards the end of the 2017-18 season which helped catapult them to a four year run of success at the OAC and NCAA level.

In what could be described as a program-defining match for the John Carroll volleyball team, they defeated regionally-ranked Ohio Northern for the first time since 2001.  

The 3-1 win (25-17, 25-22, 17-25, 25-21) ended a 26-match losing streak against the Polar Bears, the longest drought against any team in their history, and also marked JCU's first home victory over ONU since 1994.

"It's a big win for our team confidence," Blue Streak head coach Michele Benoit said.  "We know we have the talent to compete with the best.  We always say the phrase 'all gas no breaks,' and we know we can reach our full potential if we have all pistons firing."

The first set opened with both teams exchanging leads three times before a Polar Bear attack error helped JCU to a 6-5 advantage, where they led the rest of the set.

ONU tied it up twice after, but JCU stayed grounded as they rattled off 18 of the next 28 points to take the first 25-17.  John Carroll also hit .355 in the set while the Polar Bears hit just .073.

The Blue Streaks took three of the first four points to open set two, but ONU came back and tied it up on four separate occasions to eventually make it 12-12.  John Carroll then went on a 5-1 scoring run, while Ohio Northern knotted it up at 18-18 later on.  JCU never looked back, as they took seven of the final 11 points to win the set 25-22.

Set three was all ONU, as the Blue Streaks led only once the entire period.  JCU managed to get within six, but the Polar Bears managed control as they took their first set 25-17 aided by 13 kills.

Ohio Northern continued their momentum into the fourth, as they built a 9-2 advantage.  However, the Blue Streaks remained unphased as they scored 10 of the next 13 points to tie it up at 12-12.  A Kendra Dziubinski kill followed as JCU took their first lead of the set.

ONU proceeded to score the next five points to go up 17-13, but three Polar Bear attack errors aided a 5-1 run for JCU to tie it up at 18-18.

Then, John Carroll finished Ohio Northern off by recording seven of the final 10 points, including the match's final point on an Abigail Kirk kill, to make history and win the final set 25-21.

Cassi Calamunci, the OAC's leader in kills, had a match-high 19 while Dziubinski added eight on 11 attacks.  

Sonia Dahlin registered 15 kills while Kaidie Carstensen and Erin Wagner tallied eight for the Polar Bears.

The Blue Streaks also added 87 digs as a team, which was the most they have recorded in any OAC match this season.  ONU also hit just .124, their lowest total against any OAC competition this year.

"It's all about composure and confidence," Benoit said.  "Our players can come back from mistakes.  We've been in these high-pressure situations before, and we've had success.  It's nice to see that their anxiety levels are being controlled because that's the difference between success and failure.  That's been the story of our season."

John Carroll, now in a three-way tie for second in the OAC, will look to rack up another strong conference win as they head to Westerville to take on Otterbein on Wednesday, October 19 at 7pm.
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