Hiram 3, Ohio Wesleyan 2

Oct. 13, 2007

Senior outside hitter Steffi Graf (Poland/Seminary) highlighted an Ohio Wesleyan comeback as the Bishops bounced back from a 2-games-to-1 deficit to force a decisive fifth game, but 24th-ranked Hiram held off another Ohio Wesleyan rally and escaped with a North Coast Athletic Conference win over the Bishops on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The Terriers won the match by scores of 30-27, 27-30, 30-24, 26-30, 15-10.

Trailing, 15-10, in the first game, the Bishops rallied to tie the game at 17-17 as Graf had 2 kills, senior middle hitter Kelli Lester (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) added a kill and a block, and the duo combined for still another block. Ohio Wesleyan was still within 28-27 after Graf and junior middle hitter Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby) combined on a block, but the Terriers scratched out the next 2 points to close out the game.

Graf recorded back-to-back kills to help the Bishops race to a 6-1 lead in the second game. Hiram came back to tie the game at 19-19, but Hamilton responded with a kill to put Ohio Wesleyan ahead to stay, and holding on to a 28-27 lead, the Bishops finished the match with consecutive kills by junior setter Shea Pence (Danville, Ind./Danville Community) and sophomore outside hitter Kristin Kovach (Chagrin Falls/Kenston).

Hiram opened up a 12-7 lead in the third game only to see the Bishops come back to tie matters at 21-21 on a kill by senior outside hitter Stefanie McCoy (Powell/Olentangy). The Terriers answered by scoring the next 3 points, and went on a 4-0 run to end the game.

The Terriers threatened to end the match in 4 games, taking an early 5-2 lead, but Lester ended a lengthy rally with a kill to start the Bishops on their way back, and Ohio Wesleyan went on to take a 9-7 lead on another McCoy kill. Hiram eventually tied the game at 26-26, but this time it was the Bishops who ended the game with a timely 4-0 run, getting kills from Graf and Pence along the way, to force the winner-take-all fifth game.

In the fifth game, Hiram took off to leads of 4-1 and 8-2, and the Terriers stretched their advantage to 10-3 before Ohio Wesleyan rallied once more. Graf and Hamilton had kills to bring the Bishops within 11-5, and after a kill by Pence and a block by Lester and McCoy, Ohio Wesleyan was within 13-9. A McCoy kill made it 14-10, but Hiram got the next point to end the match.

Graf led the Bishops with 18 kills, while Lester and McCoy finished with 10 apiece and Pence added 9 kills. Pence led the Bishops with 49 assists. Lester had a team-high 6 blocks, while senior libero Jaime Scharf (Marion/River Valley) had a team-high 42 digs.