CLEVELAND – After dropping the first set Oberlin College volleyball struggled to gain traction at no. 24 Case Western Reserve University, falling in three sets, 15-25, 20-25, 17-25.

The Spartans quickly took the first set before the Yeowomen found an offensive groove. In the second, Case Western took an 11-7 lead early, but the Yeowomen rallied to 10-11 before the Spartans pushed to a 22-14 lead with a 12-3 run.

The Oberlin ladies captured the four consecutive points with the help of Meredith Leung at the service line. It would be too little too late as Case closed out the second with a kill from Danielle Witri.

The Yeowomen moved out to an early lead in the third set, 9-4, by taking seven straight points from the Spartans. Frist-year Sara Chang served up all seven Oberlin points, two coming off of service aces. Case tied the match twice, but the Yeowomen moved ahead, 15-12 half way through the third stanza.

 Trailing by three, the Spartans rattled off 13 of the next 15 points to send the Yeowomen home after three straight sets.

Offensively, junior Jillian Hostetler led the Yeowomen adding to her season total with a team-high 13 kills against the Spartans. Classmate Ave Spencer and sophomore Dana Thomas followed Hostetler with seven and five kills respectively.

Chang finished with a team-high three service aces and got involved offensively with two kills while notching five assists. Leung served up a game-high 24 assists for the Yeowomen and tallied six digs.

Senior libero Molly Powers led the defensive effort with 14 digs followed by Spencer, who tallied nine. Krista Langhans also preformed well out of the back, finishing with six digs. As a unit, the Yeowomen finish with five blocks in the loss.

Oberlin volleyball (6-10, 2-2 NCAC) returns to the hardwood when they suit up to host Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday, October 10. Action between the Battling Bishops and the Yeowomen is slated for noon.