Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College volleyball team defeated the visiting Allegheny College Gators in straight sets on Wednesday night at Philips Gym. The Yeowomen gutted out a 28-26 win in game one before cruising to 25-12 and 25-20 triumphs.
 
With the victory, Oberlin secured a berth into the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, which will be held the first weekend in November on the campus of Wittenberg University.
 
Oberlin attacked the Gators from all angles, registering 44 kills, eight aces, and eight total blocks.
 
Lexi Mitchell led the Yeowomen with 12 kills, while senior Claudia Scott added 11 kills on 27 swings for an impressive .296 hitting clip.
 
Sara Chang stuffed the stat sheet with a team-high 19 assists to go along with five kills and two aces, while sophomore Samantha Lam assisted in running the offense with 15 assists and 11 digs.
 
Junior libero Emily Kelkar had a strong match on the backline with 22 digs and a pair of aces.
 
The first set was nip-and-tuck throughout as Oberlin was facing set point on three different occasions, but found a way to extend the game. A kill from Mitchell evened the score at 26 before the Gators followed with an attack error. Chang would end the battle with a service error to put momentum on Oberlin's side for the rest of the night.
 
In the second set, Oberlin opened up a 17-5 lead with a 15-3 run and never looked back.
 
The Yeowomen remained in control for the rest of the match as they led by as many as seven in the third set before Allegheny battled back to within four later in the frame, however, the final outcome was never in doubt.
 
The victory was Oberlin's fourth straight-set win of the year as they moved to 11-12 overall and 1-7 in the NCAC. The Gators head back to Meadville, Pennsylvania, at 11-14 and 0-8 in league play.
 
The Yeowomen will conclude the regular season on Saturday with a pair of matches at Westminster College. They will first take on Waynesburg University at 12 p.m. before battling the host Titans at 2 p.m.