Capital 3, Ohio Wesleyan 1

Freshman outside hitter Meg Weissenberger (Toledo/Central Catholic) led the Ohio Wesleyan offense in a non-conference loss to Capital on Thursday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Capital won the match by scores of 25-21, 23-25, 25-8, 25-16.

The teams traded points while playing to an 8-8 tie in the first set before the Crusaders reeled off 3 straight points to take the lead. Ohio Wesleyan rallied to take a 16-14 lead on a kill by junior setter Jenna Teeters (Johnstown), an ace from junior outside hitter Alexa Bean (Columbus/Upper Arlington), and a Weissenberger kill, but Capital came back to take a 21-20 lead. Weissenberger blasted another kill to tie the score at 21-21, but the Crusaders got a pair of block assists from Leanne Schaefer while scoring the next 4 points to take the set.

Ohio Wesleyan threatened to run off with the second set, taking an 8-7 lead and then going on a 9-2 run that featured kills by Bean, junior middle hitter Lainey Kekic (Canfield/Western Reserve), and junior setter Sarah Marshall (Lima/Senior), with senior outside hitter Kristin Kovach (Chagrin Falls/Kenston) capping the run with a kill for a 17-9 Bishop lead. Capital rallied to within 22-21 as Jenna Zumberger and Allison Hostetler contributed 2 kills apiece, but the Bishops answered with kills from Kovach and Weissenberger to hold on for the win.

The Crusaders opened the third set with a 4-0 run, and while a pair of Weissenberger kills helped Ohio Wesleyan rally to within 4-3, Capital answered with an 8-1 spurt that included a kill and a block from Schaefer, and the Crusaders put the set away by scoring the final 8 points.

In the fourth set, Capital broke a 5-5 tie with an 8-2 run that included kills from Sarah Gallik and Zumberger, and the Crusaders pulled away for the win.

Weissenberger led the Bishops with 14 kills. Kovach finished with 8 kills and Kekic added 7. Marshall finished with 30 assists and Weissenberger and Bean shared the team lead with 14 digs apiece.

Box Score