"Cedarville"

  The MVNC women's volleyball team survived an up and down night to knock off Cedarville College 15-13, 12-15, 15-11, 15-11 in Mid-Ohio Conference action on Tuesday night.

  With the victory, the Lady Cougars (19-4, 7-1) increased their NAIA-record home winning streak to 62 consecutive matches. They also remained one win behind Walsh University in their quest for a third straight MOC title.

  Cedarville (16-4, 5-3) started things off by taking a 12-7 lead in the first game. MVNC trimmed the lead to 12-10 on a kill by Rachel Widener, a block by Tara Seiter, and an ace by Courtny Testa.

  Following a Yellow Jacket point, the Lady Cougars scored the last five points of the game behind the serving of Mandy Metzger, who had two aces during the run, and a kill by Tammy Custer. Widener and Seiter had seven and six kills respectively during the first game.

  MVNC took a commanding 12-4 lead in the second game as Custer and Widener pounded three kills apiece. Then, Cedarville responded by running off the next eleven points to take the game 15-12.

  In the third game, it was the Yellow Jackets turn to take a big early lead as they stormed out to a 10-2 cushion. At that point, the Lady Cougars turned to the heavy artillery as Seiter smashed four kills and Custer added another to close the gap to 10-7.

  Following a Cedarville point, Seiter stepped to the serving line with MVNC trailing 11-7. By the time the Yellow Jackets finally got a sideout, the Lady Cougars held a 14-11 lead. Seiter had rolled off seven straight points including an ace. Widener and Testa then combined on a block to give MVNC a 15-11 victory.

  Cedarville again took the lead in the fourth game at 10-6. Widener swatted a kill and Testa added a block to trim the margin to 10-8. Then, with Erin Weddington serving, the Lady Cougars ran off five straight points behind two kills and a block by Seiter, an ace by Weddington, and a kill by Widener. After the Yellow Jackets closed to 13-10, good serving by Metzger and a kill by Custer gave MVNC a 15-11 win.

  Widener led the winning attack with 22 kills. Seiter finished with 21 kills and a team-high five blocks. Custer also reached double figures in kills with 12. Weddington served up a team-leading three aces, while Testa, Metzger, and Seiter all finished with two aces.

  "We lacked consistency and competitive maturity at times tonight," said MVNC head coach Paul Swanson. "However, we found different ways to battle through that to win the match. When they (Cedarville) gave us the opportunity to take a game, we did what we had to do. I thought that Erin (Weddington) really provided a spark for us in the back row."

  The Lady Cougars will now be off until Friday. Then, they will travel to Winona Lake, Indiana, for the Grace College Invitational. On Friday, MVNC opens play against St. Xavier (IL) University, ranked twelfth in the Great Lakes region. Then, on Saturday, the Lady Cougars will take on Aquinas (MI) College, ranked seventh in the region, followed by a match-up with Grace, ranked third in the region.