WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Capital University volleyball team put a major scare into the No. 17 team in the country Saturday, taking two of the first three sets before falling 25-15, 23-25, 22-25, 25-19, 15-10 at Otterbein in the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season finale for both teams.

With the loss, the Crusaders (15-14 overall, 3-6 OAC) will be the No. 7 seed in next week's OAC Tournament and visit the loser of today's Mount Union-Heidelberg match on the road Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Capital led 7-3 in the fifth and deciding set before the Cardinals (25-6, 7-2) rallied to win the next six points and 12 of the last 15 in the frame to escape with a victory.

Sophomore setter Katie Weilbacher (Grove City, Ohio) finished just one kill shy of a triple-double, filling the box score with nine kills, 33 assists, 11 digs and a pair of service aces. Freshmen outside hitters Hanna Ewart (Wichita, Kan.) and Courtney McCracken (Newark, Ohio) led the offense with 12 and 11 kills, respectively.

Four different players finished in double figures in digs, including junior libero Kelly Leonard (Cincinnati, Ohio), who tallied 16. Sophomore defensive specialist Natalie Briggs (Pataskala, Ohio) and McCracken also finished in double figures with 14 and 12, respectively.

In the first set, the Crusaders hung with the Cardinals, trailing just 10-9 after a kill by McCracken. Otterbein's 4-0 run that followed prompted a Capital timeout, and the Cardinals would win the frame going away, taking seven of the last nine points.

The Crusaders set the tone early in the second with three straight solo blocks after dropping the first two points, eventually taking a 6-3 advantage. Capital turned a 12-12 tie into a 20-15 lead thanks to Ratliff's serving, and hung on the rest of the way to win the period.

The two teams went back and forth in the third before the Crusaders turned a 15-14 deficit into a 19-15 advantage on a 5-0 run, including a pair of service aces by Ratliff. The Cardinals got as close as 23-22, but a kill by Ewart and an Otterbein attack error gave Capital the third set and a 2-1 lead.

Neither team led by more than two points in the fourth set until the Cardinals took an 18-15 advantage, then held on to level the match and force a deciding fifth frame.