OTTAWA, Kan. – The Ottawa University women's volleyball team advanced to the KCAC Tournament Semifinals with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-21) victory over Sterling College on Tuesday night in Wilson Field House.
Ottawa finished the match with 44 kills, a .191 attacking percentage, 43 assists, 72 digs, four service aces, and nine team blocks.
Campbell Stark led the Braves with 12 kills and a .526 attacking percentage.
Bailee Nickel added 10 kills and 13 digs, while
Carson Schuman led the OU defense with 19 digs.
Set One: Ottawa 25, Sterling 21
The opening set featured a back-and-forth battle between the Braves and Warriors. Sterling took an early 3-1 lead before Ottawa battled back to tie the score, 3-3, on consecutive kills by
Rilyn Conard. Neither team could establish control as the score was tied 10 times through the first 30 points.
With the score tied 15-15, Ottawa took control of the set behind the serving of
Bailee Nickel. A block by
Zoey Huerta and
Kira Cherry gave the Braves a 16-15 lead. Nickel followed with a service ace, and a kill by
Ciara Gray extended OU's advantage to 18-15, forcing a Sterling timeout.
The Braves continued their run, scoring six straight points to take a 21-15 lead. Sterling battled back, cutting the deficit to 23-21, but a kill by
Campbell Stark gave Ottawa set point. Nickel finished the set with a kill, giving OU a 25-21 victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.
Ottawa finished the first set with 15 kills and a .140 attacking percentage.
Set Two: Ottawa 25, Sterling 14
Sterling jumped out to a 2-0 lead to begin the second set, but the Braves quickly responded. Ottawa tied the score at 7-7 on a kill by Huerta before Stark gave OU its first lead of the set, 8-7.
With Ottawa leading 9-8, the Braves scored three straight points, highlighted by a kill from Conard and a service ace by
Madison Brauner, to extend their advantage to 12-8.
The Braves continued to build their lead, using a 4-0 run to take an 18-11 advantage. Nickel recorded back-to-back kills during the run, and Cherry added another kill to force a Sterling timeout.
Leading 19-13, Ottawa put together another five-point run to take a commanding 24-13 lead. Nickel and Gray recorded kills during the stretch, while the OU defense forced three Sterling errors.
After the Warriors scored to make it 24-14, Gray finished the set with a kill off an assist from
Makela Martinez, giving Ottawa a 25-14 victory and a 2-0 match lead.
The Braves had their best offensive performance of the match in the second set, finishing with 15 kills, just three attacking errors, and a .250 attacking percentage.
Set Three: Ottawa 25, Sterling 21
Ottawa carried its momentum into the third set, jumping out to a 4-1 lead behind three kills from Stark and one from Gray. The Braves continued to control the early portion of the set, extending their advantage to 10-5 on a kill by Cherry.
OU pushed its lead to 14-7 following a block by Stark and Gray and a Sterling setting error. The Warriors answered with three straight points to cut Ottawa's lead to 14-10, but Gray ended the run with a kill.
With the Braves leading 16-12, Ottawa scored two straight points on Sterling attacking errors to extend its advantage to 18-12. The Warriors continued to battle, cutting the OU lead to 18-15.
Ottawa responded with a 4-1 run, highlighted by two kills from Nickel and one from
Katie Bertrand, to take a 22-16 lead.
Sterling made one final push, scoring five of the next six points to cut Ottawa's advantage to 23-21, forcing an OU timeout.
Out of the timeout, Gray delivered a kill off an assist from Martinez to give the Braves match point. Ottawa secured the sweep on a Sterling attacking error, winning the third set 25-21.
The Braves finished the final set with 14 kills and a .175 attacking percentage.
Inside the Box Score
- Campbell Stark led Ottawa with 12 kills on 19 attempts and just two errors for a match-high .526 attacking percentage. She also had three block assists.
- Bailee Nickel finished with 10 kills, 13 digs, two service aces, and one assist.
- Ciara Gray recorded seven kills, 13 digs, one service ace, one assist, and one block assist.
- Kira Cherry tallied six kills, six block assists, and two digs.
- Rilyn Conard added six kills, three digs, and one block assist.
- Zoey Huerta finished with two kills, one solo block, five block assists, and two digs.
- Carson Schuman led the Braves with 19 digs and added two assists.
- Makela Martinez led Ottawa with 22 assists and added eight digs.
- Madison Brauner recorded 17 assists, five digs, and one service ace.
- Katie Bertrand finished with one kill and six digs.
Who is Next
Ottawa (14-10) advances to the KCAC Tournament Semifinals for the first time since 2023 and will face Bethel College on Friday, Nov. 13, at 3:00 p.m. in McPherson, Kan. KCAC regular season champion McPherson College will host both the semifinal and championship rounds of the tournament.
