COLUMBUS, Ohio - Sophomore Danielle McQuade had 18 kills, 26 digs and hit .341 as the Tiffin University volleyball team (3-10, 3-5 GLIAC) came from behind to beat Ohio Dominican (9-5, 3-5 GLIAC) 3-2 (25-23, 19-25, 15-25, 25-18, 15-11), Friday night at Alumni Hall.
In the first set, the teams went back and forth. Ohio Dominican came out with an 11-6 run. Tiffin fought back with a 6-1 run, tying the match on a blast by junior Maureen Kurtz.
The Panthers responded with a 6-1 stretch to make it 18-13. Rachel Billing had three kills in the run. The Dragons turned up the heat with seven straight points to lead 20-18.
After trading points, a TU error put ODU up 23-22. Tiffin got a kill from Kurtz, an ace from senior Lindsay Heller and a block from sophomore McKenzie Wright and freshman Erin Turner to take the set.
In the second set, Ohio Dominican opened up an 11-5 lead. Freshman Tiffany Buchinger went cross court to close the margin to two 12-10. The Dragons could get no closer the rest of the set as the Panthers hit .424.
In the third set, ODU was a team on a mission. They exploded to a 10-2 start to effectively end the set.
In the fourth set, the squads traded points for the early part. At 10-10, TU went on an 11-4 run to try and put the set away. Ohio Dominican made an attempted comeback getting three straight points to make it 21-17. After trading points, Tiffin scored three straight to force a fifth set.
In the fifth set, the Dragons took a 9-6 lead and had victory in their grasp. The Panthers got a block by Emily Post and a kill from Tara Winner. That made it 9-8.
The key moment was the next serve when ODU hit the net. TU went on a 5-3 run ending the match on a quick hit up the middle by Turner.
For Tiffin, Kurtz had a season-high 11 kills while hitting .375. Buchinger quarterbacked the offense with 44 assists. Heller had 18 digs and sophomore Jordan Jenkins had 14 digs. Heller now has 1372 career digs.
Tiffin remains on the road, Wednesday, Oct. 5, taking on Malone. The match is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.
-TIFFIN UNIVERSITY-
