Fighting Scots Go 1-3 in Tough Ohio Northern Invitational

Ali Drushal

Searching for their first marks in the victory column on the young season, The College of Wooster volleyball team mustered a 1-3 record Friday and Saturday during the Ohio Northern University Invitational Tournament. The two-day, five-school event was held at the ONU Sports Center on the Ohio Northern campus.

In the nightcap on Friday, Wooster squared off in a grueling five-game match with the College of Mount St. Joseph. The Scots got the better of the Lions, a 2006 NCAA Division III participant 3-2 (26-30, 32-30, 26-30, 30-28, 15-12), and avenged a tough three-game loss last season. The tournament started off in tough fashion for the Scots, who suffered a 3-1 setback (30-26, 18-30, 30-27, 30-28) at the hands of Carnegie Mellon University.           

In the first match of Saturday morning’s action, Wooster ran into a buzzsaw in the form of Hope College, as the Flying Dutch posted a 3-0 (30-13, 30-16, 30-26) win over the Scots. Finishing off the tournament, Wooster hung with but eventually fell to the No. 15 Ohio Northern University Polar Bears in three games (30-22, 30-16, 30-15).

Ohio Northern went on to win the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record. Hope finished second with a 3-1 mark, followed by Mount St. Joseph, Carnegie Mellon and Wooster with identical 1-3 records.

Complete statistics from this weekend’s matches will be available Tuesday. 

Wooster has nearly a week off before hosting the Kilt Classic inside Timken Gymnasium next Friday and Saturday. The Scots will play host to Alma College, Westminster (Pa.) College, Mt. Union College and Muskingum College.