The Otterbein University Women’s Volleyball secured their first ever OAC regular season conference championship and an automatic spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament after a 3-game sweep over Ohio Northern on November 4th.
The Cardinals hosted the Polar Bears where the Cards went on to win the match three sets to none. The Cards kept the bears under 20 points in each of the three sets ending with 25-17, 25-18, 25-17.
Head coach Monica Wright said she was extremely proud of the team’s performance and spoke on the hopeful new standard that this year’s team has set.
“It means a lot for the program. We’ve never won the regular season," said Wright. "To do it the way we did it with such confidence, I think that really shows how good we’ve gotten and we’re excited for next week.”
Wright said she hopes that this level of playing can be expected from the team and can show that they are as good as any team in the nation. With this win, the Cardinals will be moving on to the NCAA Division III tournament, where they are waiting to see who and where they will be playing next week.
A key player from the match was junior outside hitter Hadley Sterrett who ended the night with 13 kills and 17 digs for the match. Sterrett said to get past the adversity at the beginning of the second set you have to be calm.
"If you’re freaking out then more is going to go wrong,” said Sterrett.
With this win, the Cards are 29-3 for the season and will move on to the NCAA tournament playoffs. The team selection for the tournament was held Monday, November 6th at 12:30. The Cardinals will host the Cavaliers of Cabrini University at the Rike Center on Friday Nov 10 at 8 p.m.
