Greencastle, Ind. - DePauw rallied from a 2-1 deficit for the second straight match and clinched a share of the North Coast Athletic Conference title with a 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 25-22, 18-25, 25-18) win over Ohio Wesleyan.
The Tigers improved to 13-10 overall and 6-0 in the NCAC and earned the number-one seed in the NCAC Tournament, while the Battling Bishops dropped to 19-5 overall and 5-1 in the NCAC. Ohio Wesleyan will enter the tournament as the number-two seed.
After the team split the first two sets, the Battling Bishops grabbed the lead with a third-set win. Ohio Wesleyan held an 11-8 lead in the fourth set before DePauw scored 10 straight points to take control of the set and even the match at 2-2. In a match that included 28 ties and 11 lead changes, DePauw never trailed in the final set and captured the win.
DePauw outhit Ohio Wesleyan, .199-.160 and held a 60-57 edge in kills.
Katie Gansle led the Tigers with 15 kills and
Olivia Karwin added 14, while
Kendall Herrick recorded 28 assists and Karwin 24. Natalie Dieball paced Ohio Wesleyan with 16 kills with Olivia Osuna and Lily Bechina each chipping in 21 assists.
The Tigers held an 11-6 advantage in service aces as
Grace Myers had four and Karwin three. Kaitlyn Peters and Avery Krause each finished with two for OWU.
Myers led the defense with 22 digs followed by Herrick with 15 and Karwin 14 as she recorded her fourth triple-double of the season.
Lauren Ridgway,
Ashley Haas and Karwin each had four blocks.
Peters finished with 23 digs for the Battling Bishops with Claire Solberg leading with seven blocks.
The Tigers return to action on Saturday, Oct. 28, when they host Kenyon at Noon and Trine at 4 p.m. With a win, DePauw will capture its first NCAC regular season title since beginning conference play in 2011.
