Volleyball tops GLIAC foe Ohio Dominican

The women's volleyball team scored an important GLIAC road win on Friday night, topping Ohio Dominican 3-1 in a hotly contested matchup.

The Oilers struggled early in the first set, but battled back on kills from senior Abby LaVigne and junior Jessica VonIns to tie the score at 15. The set would be tied eight more times before Tara Winner scored two kills to give the Panthers a 27-25 victory for the set.

The back-and-forth continued in set two, with the teams tied at 12 before Findlay jumped to a 21-15 lead on five ODU hitting errors and two kills from Mackenzie Vorst and one each from LaVigne and VonIns. Findlay closed out the set at 25-22 to even the match at a set apiece.

The Oilers outhit the Panthers 14 kills to 11 en route to another 25-22 win in set three. Redshirt freshman Bethany Hoelscher had four kills in the set for Findlay.

Findlay used a balanced attack to open up a 19-12 lead in the decisive fourth set, but Ohio Dominican got a string of six points behind the serving of Rachel Billing tie the set at 21-all. The Oilers needed extra points but finally wrapped up the set and match victory with kills from Vorst and Erin Thomasson.

The Oilers had a big night defensively, with four players notching double-digit digs. Libero Rachael Hammond led teh Oilers with 26, while LaVigne and Sarah Schroeder had 14 each. Setter Megan Florence earned 13 digs as well.

Billing led the Panthers with 27 digs and 15 kills. With those numbers, Billing surpassed the 1,000 kill mark for her career.

Danielle Taflinger finished with 14 kills to lead the Oilers, and VonIns added ten. Erin Thomasson was a force on the right side with 7 kills and four blocks.

With the win, the Oilers move to 7-3 on the season and 3-1 in the GLIAC. Ohio Dominican falls to 1-3 on the season and 0-3 in the GLIAC. Findlay is back in action next weekend, with a trio of home matches against Grand Valley, Ferris State and Saginaw Valley.