#17 Volleyball sweeps Muskingum 25-23, 25-18, 25-18

By Tim Glon

NEW CONCORD — Freshman Madi Ellis (Delphos/Saint John's) had 12 kills and five blocks and junior Chelsea Huppert (Bremen, Ind.) added 11 kills and five blocks as No. 17-ranked Ohio Northern swept Muskingum 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 on Saturday afternoon at the Steele Center.

The Polar Bears improve to 13-4 overall and are 2-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Muskies fall to 18-3, 2-1.

Junior Sydney Bapst (Grove City) added nine kills, sophomore Katie Wade (Battle Creek, Mich./Harper Creek) dished out 28 assists and had 10 digs and junior McKenna Hostetler (Plain City/Alder) had 21 digs for ONU.

Muskingum was led by Brooke Fatheree with 14 kills.

Northern jumped out to a quick 14-6 lead in Set 1. The lead was 20-12 when the Muskies rallied to within 24-23.

But a kill by junior McKenna Jordan (Toledo/Saint Ursula) gave ONU a 25-23 set victory.

In the second set, the Polar Bears used a 9-0 run to turn a 5-all tie into a commanding 14-5 lead.

There was no MU comeback in this set, as ONU went on to the 25-18 win.

Northern had a slim 13-12 lead in Set 3 when a 6-0 run extended the lead to 19-12. Muskingum managed to pull within 23-18, but a kill by Ellis and an ace by junior Madison Broering (Saint Henry) ended the match.

ONU hit .207 for the match with 43 kills and 15 errors on 135 attempts, while MU hit .074 with 38 kills and 28 errors on 135 attempts.

The Polar Bears will return to action Tuesday night at 7 pm when they entertain Wilmington at the ONU Sports Center.