Volleyball Faces Tough Competition against Mount Union & Ohio Northern

The Muskingum volleyball team will look to remain red hot this week as they battle Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opponent Mount Union on Tuesday in the Anne C. Steele Center and visit Ohio Northern on Saturday. The matches are set to start at 7:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., respectively.  

Match 1: Muskingum vs Mount Union – 7:00 p.m. (Live Stats/Video/Audio: fightingmuskies.com).

Match 2: Muskingum at NCAA Division III #21 Ohio Northern – 1:00 p.m. (Live Stats: http://livestats.onu.edu/livestats/vb/xlive.htm).

Records: Muskingum 17-3 overall, 4-1 OAC, Mount Union 20-3 overall, 4-1 OAC, Ohio Northern 20-4 overall, 4-1 OAC

Muskingum Notes (Roster | Schedule | Statistics)

• The Muskies swept a talented Baldwin Wallace team, who was 25-1 coming into the match, in straight sets to increase the winning streak to five in a row, 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-19) on Saturday afternoon. Brooke Fatheree tallied a game-best with 19 digs, 11 kills, and averaged 12.5 points-per-set. Chloe Brandewie pounded a season-best seven total blocks and notched eight kills.
• Fatheree ranks first on the team in kills (239) and kills-per-set (3.57), while she ranks 10th and fourth, respectively, in the OAC. In addition, she is fourth in service aces-per-set (0.37) in the conference.
• Outside hitter Courtney Nestoff is 12th in the conference with 293 digs and eighth in digs-per-set (4.37), while she is first on the team in both categories.
• Brandewie has the seventh best hitting percentage in the conference at .312.
• Setter Erin Dickson is averaging 9.24 assists-per-set and has gathered 619 total assists, placing her sixth in both categories in the conference and first on the team.
• Taylour Fatheree is seventh in the conference in total blocks (59).
• As a team, the Fighting Muskies are third in digs-per-set (17.99) and service aces-per-set (1.76), fourth in hitting percentage (.224) and fifth in kills-per-set (12.88) in the OAC.
• Muskingum's all-time series record against Mount Union is 45-15, while they are 13-59 against Ohio Northern.
• The Muskies last beat Mount Union during the 2015 season, while MU hasn't defeated Ohio Northern since 2002.

Mount Union Notes (Roster | Schedule | Statistics)

• On Saturday, Mount Union defeated Capital in straight sets 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-20) in Columbus. This marked the fourth match win in a row.
• The Purple Raiders are 20-3 overall and 4-1 in the OAC. The three losses were to Wheaton, Carnegie Mellon, and Ohio Northern.
• Outside hitter Madelin DiBease leads the team in kills with 243 and kills-per-set averaging 3.24, while she is ninth in the OAC in kills and seventh in kills-per-set.
• Setter Riley Schenk is first on her team, fifth in the conference in assists and assists-per-set (9.51, 723 total assists). In the NCAA DIII, she is 13th in hitting percentage (.381).
• Defensive specialist Celia Barrett leads the squad with 34 service aces and is second in the OAC.
• Defensive specialist Allison Baird ranks first on the squad in digs (334) and digs-per-set (4.39). She is eighth in the conference in digs and sixth in digs-per-set.
• Middle hitter Marlee Peck is first on the team and eighth in the conference in total blocks with 57.
• The team ranks second in hitting percentage (.245), third in kills-per-set (13.32), assists-per-set (12.30), and total blocks (153), fourth in service aces (135), and fifth in assists (935) and kills (1,012).
• As a team, they are 17th in NCAA DIII in kills-per-set, 18th in hitting percentage, and 23rd in assists-per-set.

Ohio Northern Notes (Roster | Schedule | Statistics)

• NCAA DIII #21 Ohio Northern is coming off a 3-0 win (25-14, 25-18, 25-13) at home against John Carroll on Saturday.
• The Polar Bears are 21-4 overall and 4-1 in the OAC. Their only conference loss was against Otterbein.
• Last season, Ohio Northern won the OAC Tournament Championship and clinched an automatic NCAA bid.
• Junior outside hitter Chelsea Huppert leads the team in kills (313) and kills-per-set (3.44) and is second and fifth in the OAC.
• Following close behind is McKenna Jordan who has collected 300 kills and is averaging 3.26 kills-per-set, which is third and sixth best in the conference. She ranks 16th in NCAA DII in digs.
• Freshman Katie Wade ranks first on the team in assists with a whopping 1033 and assists-per-set with 11.23. She ranks first in the conference in assists and assist-per-set and fourth and third, respectively, in NCAA DIII.
• Senior Haley Potters leads the team in service aces (31).
• Senior Megan Nieszala has tallied 488 digs and averages 5.30 digs-per-set to lead the team and is first and second best, respectively, in the OAC.
• In the OAC, the team ranks first in kills (1,268), digs (1,972), digs-per-set (21.43), and total blocks (199), second in kills-per-set (13.78), assists (1,185), and assists-per-set (12.88), and third in service aces (148).
• The team ranks second in NCAA DIII in digs-per-set, third in digs, sixth in assists-per-set, seventh in assists and kills, and eighth in kills-per-set.