Meadville, PA — The Oberlin College volleyball secured a spot in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament with a commanding 3-1 victory at Allegheny College Wednesday night.

The Yeowomen won the opening set 25-22, but dropped the second game, 21-25. Oberlin bounced back with two commanding victories - 25-11 and 25-18 - as they trailed just twice the rest of the match. 

The Yeowomen sit in eighth in the conference standings with a 2-6 record and overall mark of 8-14. Oberlin will face the No. 5-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops in the opening round of the NCAC tournament on Friday, November 2 at 3 p.m. 

Leading the Oberlin offense tonight was junior Lexi Mitchell as she hit .368 with a team-high 19 kills and just five errors. The Fort Mill, South Carolina, native also added three aces and 16 digs. Jaya Flynn-Young had a strong performance as she finished with 10 kills and two errors (.276). 

The setting duo of Sara Chang and Samantha Lam kept the offense in motion all night. Chang led the way with 28 helpers, while Lam was credited with 21 assists. 

Defensively, Emily Kelkar played well on the back line as she finished the match with 24 digs, while Lam reached down for 17 digs. At the net, Oberlin held a 6-3 advantage in team blocks with Flynn-Young leading the team with three total blocks. 

In a first set that featured 11 ties, it eventually swung Oberlin's way on a 5-0 run that broke a 16-16 stalemate as two Mitchell kills and three errors by the Gators gave the Yeowomen a late 21-16 lead. Allegheny cut the Oberlin lead to 23-21 but an Emery Beacom kill put an end to the Gators comeback, 25-22. 

After dropping game two 21-25, the Yeowomen went on to lead the entire third set with as they hit .250 in the stanza. The Gators cut the Yeowomen cushion to three on a Alysha Crowther kill, 24-21, but another Beacom point clinched the game and gave Oberlin a 2-1 match lead. 

The Yeowomen dominated the fourth set as a Maura Gibbs kill gave them a commanding 11-3 lead and they never looked back. Oberlin led by as many as 10 in the game as one of Mitchell's 22.5 points made it 16-6.

Oberlin will begin preparing for the two-day single-elimination NCAC Tournament this week. The first two rounds will be on Friday, November 2, followed by the semifinals and championship matches on Saturday in Springfield, Ohio.