The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team put an end to Otterbein University's 13-match winning streak on Saturday evening, defeating the Cardinals 3-1 (20-25, 27-25, 25-14, 25-16) on Senior Night at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland.
The Spartans improved to 18-7 on the season, while the Cardinals fell to 20-8.
Case Western Reserve's attack was led by senior middle blocker Jennifer Ngo, who recorded a season-high 21 kills with a .447 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Rea Marfatia and first-year outside hitter Emily Goodpaster each recorded double-doubles with Marfatia putting down 12 kills and 12 digs and Goodpaster earning 11 kills and 13 digs. Junior setter/right side hitter Carly Scott directed the offense with a career-high 34 assists. Defensively, Ngo, Scott, sophomore middle blocker Kiya Levy, and sophomore outside hitter Kalli Wall each blocked at least five attacks as the team recorded 13 blocks in the four sets. Senior libero Alyssa Blessinger had a team-high 17 digs.
After taking an early 8-7 lead in the first set, the Spartans lost six of the next seven points to trail by four. CWRU pulled within three on a service ace by Marfatia, making the score 23-20, but two Otterbein points following a timeout gave the first set to the visitors.
The hosts opened the second set with a 7-3 run, looking to even the match score at 1. Four straight Otterbein points tied the score, and the Cardinals took a 9-8 lead on a kill. Otterbein led 13-10 before three consecutive Spartans points tied the score again. The teams traded the next six points, but two kills by Wall and a Ngo service ace gave CWRU a 19-16 lead and prompted an Otterbein timeout. Two straight Cardinal attacking errors put the Spartans ahead by five, 21-16, but the visitors responded with four points to cut the deficit to just one. A kill by Levy and service ace from senior setter Ansley Yamaato put the Spartans two points away from clinching the set. Otterbein took the lead with four consecutive points and had an opportunity to win the set with a 24-23 lead. Goodpaster tied the score with a kill, keeping CWRU alive in the set, and an attacking error gave the hosts a 25-24 lead. An Otterbein kill tied the set for the 12th time, but a kill by Marfatia and service ace by Blessinger ended the set in favor of the Spartans.
The third and fourth sets were less dramatic than the second, featuring just one early lead change each. CWRU led by as many as 10 points in the third set, taking a 21-11 lead on a block by Wall and Levy. Otterbein came within seven, but four straight Spartan points closed out the set to give the hosts a 2-1 advantage.
After the Cardinals tied the score in the fourth set at seven, the Spartans used a 10-2 run to gain an eight-point edge, and the team would never relinquish the lead for the remainder of the match. A block by Wall and senior middle blocker Karoline Shellhause secured the win for Case Western Reserve, 25-16.
Prior to the match, the Spartans honored their six graduating team members—Blessinger, Hannah Fox, Lauren Himmel, Ngo, Shellhause, and Yamaato—with a special Senior Night ceremony.
CWRU has two more matches before the conference tournament, first facing crosstown rival John Carroll on Tuesday, October 31 at 7 p.m. in University Heights and then traveling to Wooster to face the Fighting Scots on Saturday, November 4 at 1 p.m.
