The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team dropped a three-set match to 19th-ranked Otterbein University 20-25, 20-25, 18-25 on Saturday afternoon at the Rike Center in Westerville, Ohio.

The Spartans fell to 9-12 this season, while the Cardinals improved to 19-3.

Stats and Standouts

• First-year Maya Zarow had a team-high five kills with junior Sienna Olson and sophomore Olivia Myers adding four kills each
• Junior Elena Esquivel had 12 assists and eight digs in the match
• Junior Sophia Datto paced the squad with 11 digs

First Set (20-25)

• Otterbein led by four points and extending their advantage to eight, 15-7, with a kill
• The Spartans responded with a 6-1 run, getting two kills from Zarow and an ace from Esquivel to cut the deficit to three
• The teams traded 3-0 runs to keep the margin at three
• First-year Piper Starling aced a serve to make the score 21-19, before the Cardinals scored four of the final five points in the set

Second Set (20-25)

• Trailing 9-7 early in the second stanza, CWRU went on a 5-0 run to take a 12-9 lead
• Olson, Myers, and junior Colleen Nudd had kills during the run
• Otterbein countered with a 7-0 run to reclaim a four-point edge
• Myers ended the run with a kill, before the Cardinals scored four of the next five points to go ahead by six
• Behind 24-17, the Spartans fought off three set points to continue the stanza before a kill by Otterbein ended the period

Third Set (18-25)

• The hosts started the third set with a 7-1 run
• CWRU cut the deficit to just one, going on a 9-4 run
• Senior Sude Naz Item had a service ace, and first-years Maia Khetani and Marisa Guan each had two kills
• The Spartans kept the deficit to two, trailing 16-14 after a kill by first-year Ava Felgar
• After Otterbein won five of the next six points, Guan put down a kill and first-year Sophie Bell had a service ace to make the score 21-17
• The hosts finished the match by winning four of the final five rallies

Spartan Notes

• CWRU fell to 5-9 against Otterbein since 2006
• 18 different Spartans appeared in the match

Up Next

CWRU will finish conference play with the third University Athletic Association Round Robin hosted by Washington University in St. Louis on Sunday, October 25. The Spartans will face 15th-ranked NYU at 12 p.m. ET and 18th-ranked Emory at 2 p.m. ET.