ALLIANCE, Ohio – The fifth-seeded Capital University volleyball team saw its season come to an end with a five-game loss at fourth-seeded Mount Union, 2-3 (13-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-19, 6-15) in an OAC Quarterfinal Match on Tuesday night at Timken Gymnasium.
Capital (24-9) was outhit .247 to .052 despite a 13-kill effort by junior Allison Hostetler (Dalton, Ohio/Dalton HS) who recorded a .462 hitting percentage and three blocks.
Classmate Sarah Gallik (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston HS) added nine kills and two blocks while senior Kelly Steineman (New Bremen, Ohio/New Bremen HS) had five kills for the Crusaders.
Defensively, Capital was paced by junior libero Sara Doebel (Clyde, Ohio/Clyde HS) with 22 digs while senior Jackie Helm (Lancaster, Ohio/Fisher Catholic HS) closed out her Crusader career with 14 digs.
Mount Union got off to a quick start in the opening set with a 12-5 run before a pair of Purple Raider errors got Capital back on track. Then after an Allison Hostetler followed with a stuff on a bad set from Mount Union to pull the Crusaders within six at 14-8, but CU would get no closer before falling 25-13.
The tide turned towards Capital in the second set as the Crusaders and Purple Raiders played even with each other early on. CU then took control with a service ace by Jenna Zumberger which sparked a 4-0 run to give CU a 17-13 lead and force a MUC timeout. From there it was all Capital as Mount Union made two straight attack errors followed by a kill from Kelly Steineman from the middle of the floor to build a 20-15 CU lead. Sarah Gallik added two more kills down the stretch for Capital en route to a 25-18 win that evened the match at one set apiece.
Mount Union would regain some of its momentum in the third set as it jumped out to a 14-10 lead before a pair of kills by Allison Hostetler and a block by the duo of Hostetler and Sarah Gallik along with a MUC attack error pulled the Crusaders to within one. Then a blast from the left side of the floor by Gallik evened the score at 14-all and forced the Purple Raiders to call a timeout. MUC would right itself after the break and use a block and two straight kills to close out a 25-19 victory in the third set.
Capital battled its way back into the match in the fourth set when a kill on the right side by Jackie Helm, a Helm service ace and a Laura Wichman kill off an overpass gave the Crusaders a 10-8 lead. Mount Union followed with a kill, but on the next rally Helm made two key digs to keep the play alive for Allison Hostetler who ripped a kill in the middle of the floor and Gallik added a kill to force a Purple Raider timeout with the Crusaders on top, 13-9. Mount Union followed with the next two points before an error sent Jenna Zumberger to the service line where she delivered a service ace and Laura Wichman added a kill on the right side for a 16-11 advantage. MUC tried to work its way back into the set and pulled to within four at 22-18 before a kill by Hostetler and a block from Hostetler and Sarah Gallik swung the momentum back to Capital en route to a 25-19 win that evened the match at 2-2.
The deciding set was all Mount Union as the Purple Raiders jumped out a 5-0 lead and built an 11-2 lead before a Sarah Gallik kill on the left side gave the Crusaders some life. Jennifer Fekpe would add another kill down the stretch, but it was not enough to overcome a 15-6 loss in the fifth set and a 3-2 defeat at the hands of host Mount Union.