Ohio Northern had just enough left in the tank to win a five-set thriller (20-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 15-5) over the Denison volleyball team on Wednesday night in Ada, Ohio.

The two squads went back in forth in the opening set before Denison built up a 21-12 lead after winning nine of 11 points.  During that run, the Polar Bears committed four errors to go along with a pair of kills from senior Lauren Gustafson and a third by sophomore Elena Lein.  Gustafason and Kenzie Kuhn also combined for a block, while junior libero Emily Marguerite served up an ace.  ONU tried to rally back, but a kill by Brittany Perry off a Carly Newell assist finished the first set.

Despite holding an early lead in the second set, Ohio Northern rallied to take a 21-17 lead.  Denison cut the deficit to 22-20 a two Kuhn kills and a Perry finisher. However, a pair of Big Red errors sandwiched around a Heather Saunier ace tied the match at 1-1.

The third saw multiple ties, with the last coming at 16-16.  A Polar Bear service error by Ellie Gillespie gave Denison the lead for good.  The Big Red methodically built a 24-20 lead before kills by Kaitlann Hogrefe and Anna Ricker cut the deficit in half and forced DU to call a timeout.  Following the stoppage, junior setter Jessica Borsani found Perry for the set-ending kill.

Unlike the first three sets, the fourth saw ONU jump out to a nine-point lead at 15-6.  Now trailing 16-8, Denison went on a 10-2 run to tie the match at 18-18.  A combination block by Gustafson and Lein kicked off the run, while a Gustafson kill and an ace by junior Allie Becker forced the Polar Bears to call a timeout.  Out of the stoppage, the Big Red scored five of the next seven points behind four kills and an ace.

Following the Polar Bears second timeout, the home team committed two attacking errors to tie the match.  Despite losing its early lead, Ohio Northern regrouped and regained a 24-20 edge.  Kills by Annemarie Fischer and Gustafson to go along with an ONU attack error shrunk the deficit to one, but a kill by Heather Saunier forced a fifth set.

The Polar Bears jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the final set and never looked back as they quickly built a 12-2 lead en route to a 15-5 victory.

Perry paced the offense with 11 kills, while Gustafson and Kuhn each had 10 kills. Lein posted nine finishers, while freshman Rachele Lock and Fischer each posted six kills. Marguerite and Becker served up two aces apiece, while Borsani and Newell had 25 and 22 assists, respectively.  Defensively, Marguerite had a match-high 35 digs, while Newell recorded 13 digs.  At the net, Kuhn finished with a solo block and four block assists.

Denison falls to 8-4, while the Polar Bears improve to 6-5.  The Big Red returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Marietta to take on the Pioneers (12:15 p.m.) and Roanoke (4:45 p.m.).