Volleyball earns key OAC win over Wilmington

The Muskingum Volleyball team picked up a key OAC win over Wilmington in straight sets on Wednesday night.

The Basics  

• Records: Muskingum (16-6 Overall, 5-3 OAC), Wilmington (8-19 Overall, 1-7 OAC)  
• Location: Anne C. Steele Center – New Concord, Ohio  
• Attendance: 412

Notables  

• With 27 assists against the Quakers, senior Emma Conrad moves to seventh all-time in career assist for Muskingum with 1,601.  
• The contest marks Muskingum's last home game of the regular season.
• Muskingum is now 16-0 all-time against Wilmington in volleyball.
• With the win, Muskingum has officially clinched a spot in the OAC Tournament.

OAC Tournament

• The Ohio Athletic Conference regular season will wrap-up this Saturday, October 29.
• The top six teams in the OAC standings after the regular season concludes will advance to the conference tournament, with the top two teams receiving a first-round bye.
• The first round of the tournament will be held on Tuesday, November 1, with the third seed hosting the sixth seed, and the fourth seed hosting the fifth seed.
• Currently, Otterbein holds the top overall spot in the conference with a 7-1 OAC record. Marietta sits in second place with a 6-2 conference record. Mount Union, Muskingum, John Carroll, and Ohio Northern all hold a 5-3 record in the OAC to make up seeds 3-6 in the standings.

How it Happened  

• In the opening frame, neither team could pull away and the score was tied 6-6 early on.
• From that point on, Muskingum used momentum from junior Raegan Flood's back-to back blocks to spark a 19-8 run and win the opening set 25-14.  
• In the second set, the Muskies again found themselves in a tight battle, this time tied with the Quakers at eight apiece.  
• However, the Muskies would again put together a massive run, this time a 17-5 spurt, and win the set 25-13.
• Not looking back, the Muskies would ride their momentum and take the third set 25-19 to win the match in straight sets.

Inside the Numbers  

• The Muskies were led by junior Khloe Taylor with 13 kills.  
• Senior Emma Conrad dished out 27 assists on the night, while also registering eight digs and three kills.  
• Freshman Emma Johnson and junior Raegan Flood both tallied seven kills for Muskingum, while Flood added three digs.  
• Senior Gracie Collins finished the night with a game-high 17 digs, while sophomore Grace Pedersen and junior Lexie Huck both added eight digs each.
• Wilmington was led by Kieran Yarkosky and Sydney Geibel with five kills each.
• As a team, Muskingum totaled 39 kills, 34 assists, 51 digs, and seven service aces.

Up Next  

• Muskingum will finish the regular season on Saturday, October 29, when they travel to John Carroll for a tri-match.
• The Muskies will take on John Carroll at 12:00 p.m., and they will battle nonconference foe Kenyon at 2:00 p.m.