Ohio Wesleyan 3, Earlham 1

Oct. 5, 2007

Senior outside hitter Steffi Graf (Poland/Seminary) and junior setter Shea Pence (Danville, Ind./Danville Community) fueled a late 7-2 run to end the match and lead Ohio Wesleyan to a North Coast Athletic Conference win over Earlham on Friday at Branch Rickey Arena.

With the Bishops leading, 2 games to 1, Earlham had taken a 12-10 lead in the fourth game on a kill by Keeley McAnnis-Entenman.

Ohio Wesleyan answered with a 9-1 run that included kills by junior middle hitter Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby) and senior outside hitter Stefanie McCoy (Powell/Olentangy), blocks by senior middle hitter Kelli Lester (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) and Graf, and a service ace by freshman outside hitter Alexa Bean (Columbus/Upper Arlington). After a pair of Earlham points, McCoy and Graf ripped kills to start a 4-0 spurt that stretched the Bishop lead to 23-15.

Earlham rallied with 6 straight points, including 3 kills from Lisa Vanderkolk, to come back to within 23-21, but Pence blasted a kill off an Earlham defender, Lester zipped an ace right through the heart of the Quaker defense and Graf followed with 2 kills and a block to make it a 28-21 game. The Quakers came as close as 29-23, but Pence responded with a kill to end the match.

Ohio Wesleyan threatened to run off with the first game, taking an early 7-2 lead, and the Bishops still led, 16-11, when the Quakers went on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 18-18.

Pence ripped a kill to break a 19-19 tie and put the Bishops ahead to stay, and Hamilton and junior middle hitter Janna Dagley (Beavercreek) combined on back-to-back blocks to help the Bishops to a 23-19 lead. Earlham came back to within 26-25, but Pence had a pair of timely kills and Graf ended the game with a kill down the line.

The second game saw Earlham jump to the early lead, breaking a 6-6 tie with 4 straight points that included a kill by Jessica Whitaker and a block by McAnnis-Entenman. The Bishops rallied to within 11-10, but the Quakers bounced back to take a 19-14 lead on consecutive kills by Vanderkolk. Earlham still led, 21-17, when McAnnis-Entenman recorded a kill and Whitaker followed with 2 more to start a game-ending 9-0 run.

The Quakers jumped to another early lead in the third game, taking a 7-3 edge on back-to-back kills by Vanderkolk, and still led, 14-10, before Ohio Wesleyan took the lead with a 5-0 spree that featured kills by Pence and sophomore outside hitter Kristin Kovach (Chagrin Falls/Kenston).

With the score tied at 19-19, Pence delivered a kill to start off a 5-0 Ohio Wesleyan run. Earlham came back to within 27-23 on a Vanderkolk tip, but McCoy answered with a kill and Graf followed with a block and a game-ending kill to give the Bishops a 2-1 lead in the match.

Graf led the Bishops with 12 kills and 6 blocks and added 22 digs, while Kovach added 9 kills and Pence finished with 8 kills, 25 digs and 20 assists. Hamilton and McCoy added 7 kills apiece.

Freshman setter Sarah Marshall (Lima/Senior) led Ohio Wesleyan with 25 assists, while senior libero Jaime Scharf (Marion/River Valley) led the Bishops with 36 digs.