Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College volleyball team split a tri-match with Division II Notre Dame College and familiar foe La Roche College on Saturday afternoon at Philips Gym.
 
The Yeowomen downed the Redhawks in straight sets for the second time this season, winning 25-20, 25-18 and 25-21. However, in their first match of the day the Yeowomen could not get past the Falcons, falling in four sets 22-25, 15-25, 25-20, and 19-25.
 
La Roche Recap
After subpar opening match against NDC, first-year Lexi Mitchell regrouped to lead the Yeowomen with 11 kills on 30 attempts against La Roche as she hit .233 for the contest. Senior Ave Spencer also added 10 kills and had just three errors on 21 swings.
 
First-year Samantha Lam had the Yeowomen offense in tune with 21 assists in the match. Using multiple setters, Meredith Leung also had 11, while Sara Chang chipped in with seven.
 
Emily Kelkar guided the defensive unit with 14 digs, while Mitchell chipped in with 10.
 
The opening set of the match was a wire-to-wire victory for the Yeowomen. It did get a nip-and-tuck down the stretch as a service error by Oberlin got the Redhawks to within one at 18-17, but the Yeowomen scored five of the next six points to leave no doubt in the eventual outcome.
 
Oberlin cruised in the second game, using a 7-0 run midway through to double up the Redhawks 19-8 before securing the seven-point victory.
 
The third stanza was truly a game of runs by both teams. Oberlin scored five straight to go up 10-6 early, but a late push from La Roche would have them back within two, 23-21.  However, the Yeowomen would secure the match on a kill from Spencer and an attack error by Toni Torchia.
 
Torchia and Laura Nath each had 10 kills to lead the La Roche offense. With their losses to both Oberlin and Notre Dame College, they head back to Pittsburgh at 2-6.
 
Notre Dame Recap
Against the Falcons the Yeowomen never seemed to find a rhythm, hitting .183 as a team in the match.
 
However, Jillian Hostetler was impressive as she hit .667 with 14 kills on 21 swings and was error free in the match. Lexi Mitchell added 10 kills, but was inconsistent throughout with nine errors.
 
In the opening set Oberlin appeared to be in control as three consecutive service aces from Krista Langhans had the Yeowomen up 8-2, but a 12-1 Falcons' run had Oberlin on its heels. Oberlin fought back to tie the game at 21-21, but NDC posted four of the next five points to win 25-22.
 
It was all Falcons in the second as they won 25-15, but the Yeowomen did fend off the sweep with a strong third set in which they hit .323 as a team with 14 kills and four errors on 31 attempts.  With the score tied at 17, three straight Oberlin points created some separation and led to the 25-20 triumph.
 
Unfortunately, the momentum was short-lived as the Falcons pulled away for the win in the fourth. It was tied at 11, but a 7-0 NDC run all but sealed the eventual outcome as they won the set 25-19.
 
Meredith Leung had 22 assists and eight digs in the setback. Sara Chang added nine helpers and nine digs to the Yeowomen's efforts, while Dana Thomas had a strong performance in the middle with six kills and five total blocks, while Ave Spencer and Maggie Middleton also added five kills each.
 
Langhans spearheaded the serving unit with five of the team's nine aces.
 
Oberlin, which is now 3-3 on the young season, returns to the court on Thursday evening when it makes the short trek to John Carroll University for a 7 p.m. battle.