#12 Volleyball falls in five-set thriller vs. #14 Otterbein in OAC Tournament Championship

The #12 and top-seed Muskingum volleyball team fell in a five-set thriller to 2-seed and #14 Otterbein in the OAC Tournament Championship game on Saturday afternoon, 3-2.

The Basics

• Records: Muskingum (18-3, 16-2), Otterbein (18-3, 15-3)
• Location: Anne C. Steele Center - New Concord, Ohio
• Attendance: 110

Notables

• The Muskies finish the year with an 18-3 overall record and won their first outright OAC Regular Season Championship since 1999 along with winning back-to-back regular-season titles.
• Muskingum's senior Kaitlin Noble and senior Brooke Fatheree earned All-OAC Tournament Team honors at the end of the match. They are joined by Marietta's April Davis, Baldwin Wallace's Alexis Garrett, and Otterbein's Carlie Craycraft, Morgan Hartman, and Julia Vermilion who earned Most Outstanding Player for the tournament.

Inside The Numbers

• Otterbein won the contest 25-20, 16-25, 25-12, 16-25, 16-18.
• Leading the Muskies was senior Maddie McGee with 14 kills on 65 attempts. She also added 21 digs.
• Sophomore Emma Dunham added 13 kills on 22 attempts.
• Noble chipped in 10 kills on 37 attempts.
• Senior Erin Dickson guided the Muskie offense with 39 assists.
• Fatheree led the defense with a team-high 28 digs for Muskingum.
• Vermilion led Otterbein with 21 kills on 66 attempts.
• Amber Greeley added 16 kills on 33 attempts.
• Craycraft aided the Cardinal attack with 55 assists.
• Hillary Sterret notched 22 digs.

The Difference

• The Muskies jumped to a quick 5-1 start in the first set, then saw Otterbein come back and tie it, 6-6.
• Both teams battled back-and-forth in the first set and with Muskingum down 17-16, they used a 9-4 run to seal the set and take a 1-0 lead.
• In the second set, Otterbein took back the momentum leading the entire set and tied it, 1-1.
• With the Muskies up 9-7 in the third, they used a massive 16-5 run to take the set 25-12 and the lead, 2-1.
• In the fourth set, both teams were tied 11-11 and then Otterbein used a 14-4 surge to tie the contest up, 2-2, heading into the fifth set.
• The fifth set saw both teams fight tooth-and-nail with neither team gaining a significant lead.
• With the score 14-13, Otterbein saw their first opportunity to take the match but the Muskies tied it up 14-14 off a McGee kill.
• The Cardinals saw another opportunity up 15-14 but couldn't convert as Muskingum tied it up, 15-15.
• The Muskies saw their first chance to take the match with a score 16-15 but were not able to finish with Otterbein tying it up, 16-16.
• With the score 17-16, the Cardinals notched the win off a Morgan Hartman kill to take the game, 3-2.
• Muskingum tallied 59 kills, 53 assists, 95 digs, and 11 blocks.
• Otterbein ended the contest with 66 kills, 64 assists, 107 digs, and eight blocks.