Volleyball clinches ONU Invitational championship with win over Wisconsin-Oshkosh

By Wes Mayberry

| 2022 ONU Invitational site |

ADA — The Ohio Northern volleyball team defeated Wisconsin-Oshkosh 25-17, 19-25, 25-17, 25-22 to close out a perfect 3-0 record in the 43rd annual ONU Invitational on Saturday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears have won six straight matches and are 9-2 overall while dropping the Titans to 11-4.

ONU has now won its invitational 19 times, including six of the last nine.

Northern was the only team to finish the 2022 event unbeaten. Wisconsin-Oshkosh finished second at 3-1, and Muskingum was third at 2-1.

Sophomore Erin Wagner (Massillon/Perry) was named the MVP of the event, and sophomore Grace Conrad (Somerset/Sheridan) was also named to the All-Tournament Team.

Wagner finished Saturday's game with a career-high 20 kills while posting a .500 hitting percentage, and Conrad tallied a career-high 47 assists.

After defeating DePauw (Ind.) 3-0 and Earlham (Ind.) 3-1 on Friday, the Polar Bears got out to a strong start against Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday in the form of a 5-0 lead. Northern extended the lead to 11-2 and closed out the 25-17 victory with a kill from junior Ava Ehlinger (New Carlisle/Tecumseh).

The Titans jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the second set and went on to take a 21-15 edge en route to the 25-19 victory.

ONU responded in the third set with an opening 7-2 run capped by a kill from Ehlinger. The Polar Bears maintained control of the set and went on to take a 23-11 edge before the Titans went on a 5-0 run. Kills from sophomore Sonia Dahlin (Minnetonka, Minn.) and Ehlinger gave ONU two of the final three points for the 25-17 victory.

Wisconsin-Oshkosh appeared primed to force a fifth set, jumping out to a 7-3 lead to start the fourth. But kills from Wagner and Dahlin and consecutive aces from fifth-year senior Hannah Irmer (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) quickly tied the score at 7-all.

The Titans later held a 17-14 edge, but ONU again responded with a 3-0 run to tie the score.

The set featured four more tie scores, the last of which was at 22-all. ONU then scored the final three points to clinch the match, getting three consecutive kills from Wagner.

Wagner was one of four Polar Bears to post double-digit kill totals, joining Dahlin with 12, Ehlinger with 11 and junior Kaidie Carstensen (Raymond/Fairbanks) with 10.

Sophomore Rachel Jennings (Novi, Mich.) added 26 digs for Northern.

Carissa Sundholm and Riley Kindt led the Titans with 16 and 11 kills, respectively.

Northern hit .297 for the match with 61 kills and 20 errors on 138 attacks, while the Titans hit .116 with 42 kills and 25 errors on 147 attempts.

The Polar Bears return to the court on Friday and Saturday for a three-game set in the Mt. St. Joseph Invitational in Cincinnati against Transylvania (Ky.), Christopher Newport (Va.) and Mount St. Joseph.