WESTERVILLE, Ohio – October 30, 2021- Hiram women's volleyball concluded their regular season with two defeats dropping matches vs. Capital and Otterbein on Saturday afternoon.

Capital 3, Hiram 1

In the early portion of the first set, Capital took an 11-6 lead after scoring four of five points. With an 18-12 lead, Capital looked to pull away. Hiram had other plans, however, cutting the Comets lead to 19-17 with a run that included scoring five of six points. A kill by Kiara Franks and a bad set from Capital evened the score at 22. Capital and Hiram played beyond the 25^th point in the first set as the Terriers looked to complete the comeback. The Comets scored the final two points of the first set winning 27-25.

A pair of runs by both teams headlined the early part of the second set. Capital scored four points in a row, taking an early 10-6 lead. Hiram battled back taking a 16-13 lead after securing seven of eight points. Both Kayla Cole and Emily Richardson picked up kills in the run. The Comets again answered with five-straight points taking a small 19-18 lead. Coming down the stretch of set two it was a back-and-forth affair. Madison Burns tied the game with a kill evening it at 24, but Capital tallied the final two points to win 26-24.

Hiram put together a big run in the middle part of set three going up 15-8 in a five-point run with Cole notching two kills. The remainder of the set was very much back-and-forth as Hiram used their early lead to an advantage. Three of the final four points went the Terriers way, with Burns and Franks getting kills en route to a 25-18 third set win.

Similar to set three, Capital took a lead and didn't slow down in set number four. The Comets stormed out to a 13-3 lead. A small three-point run, with two kills from Franks, cut the lead to 13-6. Capital pieced together the remainder of the set with four of the final five points going to Comets way, winning 25-14.

Both Franks and Cole had 16 kills in the match leading Hiram. Mary Landis led the squad with 24 assists and Emily Chrustic was right behind her with 20. Mackenzie Brannon exploded with 33 digs. Cole had 14, Landis 13 and Miya Gotto 12. Richardson led with five block assists and Andrya Hanmore had four.
 
Otterbein 3, Hiram 1

Things remained all square through about the halfway point between the Cardinals and Terriers. A Kayla Franks service ace tied the game at 12. Otterbein started breaking away with a four-point run that saw them go up 21-16. Hiram put together three of four points, but the home side won set one 25-22.

Brannon picked up a service ace early in set two as Hiram took the lead and didn't look back in the second frame. Going up 6-2 after the Brannon service ace, the Terriers took a 12-8 lead, this time with a service ace coming from Lyndsey Johns. After a four-point run, Hiram now led 17-10 with block assists from Richardson, Franks and Riley Elliot. The road side coasted into a second set victory winning 25-19.

The third set was a tale of two big runs from both teams. With the set mostly being back-and-forth early, Hiram blasted out for a 20-12 lead, with multiple Kayla Franks kills in that stretch. The Cardinals put together a big run of their own with a six-point run now trailing 22-21. Otterbein put up the final four points of the set winning 25-23.

Otterbein started the fourth set scoring in bunches going up 8-4, followed by a five-point run increasing the lead to 13-6. After a Kiara Franks kill and a bad set from Otterbein, the Terriers cut the lead to 13-10. A five-point run from the Cardinals gave them breathing room going up 18-10. The road team shrunk the Cardinals lead to 22-17, but Otterbein pulled away winning 25-18.

In match two, Kayla Franks led the way with 17 kills and Kiara Franks had 11. Chrustic led with 24 assists and Landis claimed 13. Brannon was again the top dig getter with 19 and Kiara Franks had 14. Richardson picked up seven block assists and Elliot posted six.

With the conclusion of the matches today, Hiram concludes their regular season with a record of 14-14 and 5-3 in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) play. The team now gears up for the NCAC Tournament playing on Friday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. in Granville, Ohio. The Terriers play the winner of Wooster and Oberlin.