ONU DOWNS IU SOUTH BEND IN STRAIGHT SETS

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The Olivet Nazarene University women's volleyball team used a pair of big runs to roll over Indiana South Bend 25-19, 25-22, 25-19 Tuesday night in McHie Arena. The win moved the Tigers to 9-11 overall and 6-4 in CCAC play.

The first big run came right out of the gate as the Tigers secured the match's first five points. Kelsey Todd and Kaitlyn Kolb each had kills to start the run, and Halle Nicholas contributed a pair as ONU took a commanding 11-3 early.

The lead ballooned to as many as 11 late in the first as the Tigers cruised to a 1-0 lead. ONU put down 12 kills in the opening frame and had an answer for everything IU-SB threw at them, holding the Titans to a .000 hitting percentage through the first.

The second set featured a similar start. Kaylee Cozen had two kills and Ashley Poland recorded a service ace as the Tigers opened the second on an 8-3 advantage. ONU held the lead from there to go up 2-0.

Indiana South Bend (2-18, 2-6 CCAC) showed some resilience, building a 12-8 lead midway through the third set. But that was when Malia Harris and the Tigers pieced together a nine-point run to take control of the match.

Anna Taylor and Hadleigh Loitz roofed a block to ignite the run that put the Tigers in front. Harris capped the spurt with an ace that put the Tigers ahead 17-12. ONU led from there on out.

ONU received a balanced attack in the straight-sets win. Nicholas put down 10 kills, Kolb had nine, Cozen tabbed five and Todd added four. Loitz, Karsyn Delbridge, Molly Kurtz, and Sabrina Sanif each chipped in a kill.

Loitz led the way with 28 assists. She was also one of three Tigers to reach double-figures in digs, recording 10. Ashley Poland tabbed 13 digs and Sara Serafimova picked up 20.

The Tigers will stay put in McHie Arena with a home match Thursday evening against Calumet, set for 7 p.m.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu