Wooster 3, Ohio Wesleyan 1

Oct. 24, 2007

Senior outside hitters Steffi Graf (Poland/Seminary) and Stefanie McCoy (Powell/Olentangy) led Ohio Wesleyan with 15 kills apiece, but Wooster bounced back from losing the first game to take a North Coast Athletic Conference win over Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday in Branch Rickey Arena.

Wooster won the match by scores of 25-30, 30-20, 30-24, 30-25.

The Bishops had broken a 7-7 tie in the first game by taking off on a 7-2 run, with junior middle hitter Janna Dagley (Beavercreek) supplying a block and a kill along the way. Wooster closed to within 19-18 with points by Megan Earle and Heather Wolff, and tied the game at 21-21 with the help of an Erin Wright kill. The game was still tied at 23-23 when Ohio Wesleyan reeled off the next 6 points, scoring on blocks by McCoy and junior middle hitter Katie Hamilton (Hilliard/Darby) and a pair of placements by Dagley. Wooster closed to within 29-25 on Carolyn Ciriegio's kill, but Dagley responded with a kill to finish off the game for Ohio Wesleyan.

Junior setter Shea Pence (Danville, Ind./Danville Community) recorded a block and a kill to help Ohio Wesleyan take an early 9-7 lead in the second game, but Wooster scored 5 of the next 6 points and took a 12-10 lead on Ciriegio's kill. The Bishops rallied, tying the game at 12-12 on Graf's kill to end a lengthy rally that saw extraordinary efforts by both teams, and continued to score 4 of the next 6 points for a 16-14 lead. Wooster answered with a 10-1 spree that included 3 points by Ciriegio and a block by Wright to open up a 24-17 lead, and the Fighting Scots finished the game with the help of kills by Earle and Wright.

Ohio Wesleyan bounced back to take a 5-2 lead in the third game, assisted by blocks from Hamilton and senior middle hitter Kelli Lester (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial). Wooster came back to take 12-9 lead only to see the Bishops tie the game at 12-12 on points by Dagley, McCoy and Graf. With the game tied at 15-15 on a Pence kill, the Fighting Scots moved to a 20-17 lead and then scored the next 6 points for a 26-17 advantage. Wooster still led, 28-19, when the Bishops rallied with a pair of Graf kills and an ace from sophomore outside hitter Kristin Kovach (Chagrin Falls/Kenston). Another Graf kill brought the Bishops within 29-24, but Wooster got the next point to end the game.

Wooster gradually built a 14-10 lead in the fourth game only to see Ohio Wesleyan come back with points from Graf and Pence to slice the deficit to 15-14. The Fighting Scots scored the next 3 points, with KateLynn Riley adding a kill, but the Bishops returned the favor with a 3-0 run of their own, as McCoy posted a pair of kills to make it a 20-19 game. After that point, however, Ohio Wesleyan was not able to score twice in a row, and Wooster outlasted the Bishops for the 30-25 final.

Graf and McCoy shared the Ohio Wesleyan lead with 15 kills apiece. Lester added 10 kills and Pence led the Bishops with 41 assists.

Defensive standouts for Ohio Wesleyan included Dagley, who piled up 4 blocks; Hamilton, who recorded 3 blocks; senior libero Jaime Scharf (Marion/River Valley), who led the Bishops with 45 digs; Graf, who had 32 digs; and Pence, who finished with 27 digs.