Racers Go 1-3 on Opening Weekend at Onset Invite

FORT WAYNE, IN - UNOH Volleyball opened the 2023 campaign at the Onset Invitational August 18-19 with two matches Friday and two matches Saturday. The Racers began with a 3-0 win over Oakland City before falling 3-1 to Huntington. The competition ramped up Saturday with UNOH falling 3-0 and 3-1 to Grace and (RV) Bethel, respectively.

UNOH 3 Oakland City 0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-17)

The first game played tight early with the teams battling back and forth. With the set tied 10-10, UNOH rattled off five straight points and never looked back with a 25-20 win. The Racers never trailed in set two, matching the final score from game one. After scoring the first point in set three, Oakland City took the lead back and led most of the game going up 15-13. UNOH got hot again using a 9-0 run to take control, finishing on a 12-2 run to sweep their first match of the season.

Logan Thomas led the team with 13.5 points in the match. Thomas finished with nine kills and five errors on 31 attempts (.129). She added a team high 18 digs, four aces and a block assist. Abigail Martin hit .323 with a team high 12 kills on 31 swings with just two errors. Taylor Reust picked up six kills with one error on 15 attacks (.333) with six digs and two block assists. Savanna Reed earned a career high 28 assists with six digs, three aces and the team's only solo block of the match.

Huntington 3 UNOH 1 (9-25, 25-22, 25-12, 25-19)

The Racers were nearly perfect in the first game hitting .526 as a team with no hitting errors that led to a 25-9 win. The second set was a battle down to the wire with the teams locked 20-20. The Foresters managed to pick up five of the final seven points to earn a 25-22 win. UNOH led 2-0 to start game three but Huntington roared back and never trailed again en route to a 25-12 win. The fourth set looked iike it would stay close throughout as the teams locked up at 19-19. The offense couldn't get finish the job, however, allowing Huntington to take the final six points winning the game 25-19 and taking the match 3-1.

Logan Thomas again set the pace with 15 points earning 13 kills with a service ace and two block assists, adding ten digs. Elli Roetgerman finished with 13 points coming off her 13 kills. She hit .375 in the match with just four errors on 24 attacks. Abigail Martin had a team high 13 digs with five kills and an ace. Savanna Reed reset her career mark picking up 36 assists to go with seven digs, three block assists and a solo block.

Grace 3 UNOH 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-14)

UNOH took a 5-3 lead early in the first set but saw the Lancers score eight straight to go up 11-5. The Racers continued to fight and managed to lock the match at 18 before Grace again went on a streak to go up 23-18. UNOH managed to make it 24-22, but Grace finished off set one with a final kill. Again the Racers took the lead first, this time scoring the first five points of the game. That lead held until the Lancers fought back to make it 14-14. The set stayed tight with ties at 18 and 19 before Grace finally took their first lead 20-19. The Lancers outscored the Racers 6-1 down the stretch to pull out the 25-20 win. Grace wasted no time taking control of the third game piling up a 14-4 lead to start the set keeping control the rest of the way for the sweep.

Logan Thomas and Elli Roetgerman led the team with nine points each. Thomas used nine kills for her points while Roetgerman finished with eight and two block assists. Savanna Reed had 22 assists in the match with two kills. Thomas led with 16 digs while Aubree Ricketts and Reed added 15 and ten, respectively.

Bethel 3 UNOH 1 (25-27, 25-12, 25-15, 25-18)

After jumping out to a 14-7 lead in the first set, UNOH held off a furious Bethel comeback to take the 27-25 win. Again, the Racers led early in game two, 7-5, but the Pilots settled in and pulled away 25-12. UNOH scored the first point of set three but it was the only time Bethel would trail pulling away again for a 25-15 win. Game three was tied 13-13 halfway through with UNOH keeping it tight. The Pilots were too much in the end taking the set 25-18 and the match 3-1.

Once more, Logan Thomas led the way scoring 18.5 points. Thomas finished with 14 kills, three aces, a solo block and a block assist. Abigail Martin also recorded 14 kills with a service ace and a solo block for 16 points in the match. Elli Roetgerman finished with 11.5 points putting down nine kills with five block assists, matching Hannah Colquitt for the team lead. Savanna Reed picked up 27 assists with Aubree Ricketts leading the team with 17 digs.

The Racers will play their first two home matches of the season in the Racer Rumble Friday, August 25. UNOH opens with Defiance at 10:00 AM before finishing with Judson at 2:00 PM. Judson and Defiance will square off in between those two matches.