No. 8 Volleyball wins decisive fifth set 15-13 to down No. 5 Wittenberg in NCAA Regional Semifinals

Katie Weininger

By Steven Wright

| Box Score |

SPRINGFIELD -The No. 8-ranked Ohio Northern volleyball team trailed 2-0 heading into the Set 3 and was down 9-7 in the fifth set, but rallied back to win 15-13 and upset No. 5-ranked Wittenberg on its home court in front of a very enthusiastic crowd Friday evening at the HPER Center.

The 20-25, 26-28, 25-20, 25-19, 15-13 victory improves the Polar Bears win streak to a school record 25 matches and takes their record to 32-4 on the season.

The Tigers end their season at 33-3.

At 9-7 in the fifth set, senior All-American setter Katie Weininger recorded a kill to spark the Northern comeback.

After a Wittenberg error to tie the match, junior All-American Liz Schnelle record back-to-back kills before another Tiger error to give ONU a three-point cushion.

The Tigers never got closer than two points again, while Schnelle continued to apply the offensive pressure with two kills that made the score 14-12.

Junior Renee Berry ended the match on a tip out of the middle that the Wittenberg defense dug back over the net and out of bounds.

As has been the case most of the season, Ohio Northern was led by Weininger and Schnelle who both performed brilliantly throughout the match.

Weininger recorded her first career triple-double with a career-high 12 kills, 45 assists and 11 digs. Her 12 kills came with a .435 hitting percentage.

Schnelle had a match-high 26 kills and a .382 hitting percentage, as five of those kills came in the final set. She also chipped in six digs, tied a season high with three solo blocks and added a block assist.

Berry was the only other Polar Bear with a double figure kill total, as she tied a season high with 12.

After Wittenberg took a two-set lead by winning Set 2 28-26, Northern refused to quit and built a 7-3 lead in Set 3 while never letting the Tigers within three the rest of the way.

Northern continued to use its momentum, winning Set 4 25-19 before the excitement of Set 5.

Along with Weininger's 11 digs, freshman Kasey Roeser led the defense with 15 digs, while fellow freshman Nicole Howard had 10.

Jackie Williams led Wittenberg with 20 kills and Christine Simpson was close behind with 16.

Ohio Northern advances to the Great Lakes Regional Final tomorrow at 7 pm to face No. 3 Washington (Mo.) at the HPER Center.