Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College volleyball led 2-1 after three sets, but the visiting Hiram College Terriers stormed back to take the next two games in commanding fashion to get by the Yeowomen on Wednesday night at Philips Gym.
 
After dropping the first set 25-16, the Yeowomen regrouped to take games two and three by the scores of 25-21 and 25-20. However, the Terriers snatched back the momentum and went on to win the fourth set 25-13 before cruising to a 15-6 triumph in the fifth.
 
The Yeowomen, who hit just .131 for the match, were plagued by inconsistent play as they put together stretches of greatness and at times looked out of sync. Oberlin produced 43 kills and six aces, but was hindered by 21 attack errors and 11 serve reception errors.
 
Sophomore Lexi Mitchell led the Oberlin charge, hammering home 14 kills on 39 swings as she hit .231 in the match. Senior middle hitter Dana Thomas added nine send-downs and had just one error on 22 total attacks.
 
Samantha Lam and Sara Chang split the setting duties and combined for 34 helpers. Chang also added 11 digs and four kills to her 16 helpers, while Lam scooped up 17 digs – two shy of Emily Kelkar's team-high of 19.
 
The third set was tied at 20, but Oberlin pulled away for five straight points to grab the 2-1 match advantage.
 
However, things took a turn in the fourth as Hiram led 13-10 midway through the game before pulling away by scoring 12 of the next 15 points of the stanza. In the fifth, Hiram raced out to a 10-4 lead to leave no doubt in the eventual outcome.
 
Grace Wilson led the Terriers' attack with 15 kills and as a team they hit .211 en route to earning their first conference win of the season. They head home at 13-8 overall and 1-4 in the NCAC.
 
Oberlin dropped back to 9-10 overall and is still in search of its first league win at 0-5.
 
The Yeowomen will be back in action on Tuesday night at Denison University with the first serve set for 7 p.m.