FINAL RESULTS

MASON, Ohio – Make it a clean sweep for Otterbein in cementing another dominant and convincing Ohio Athletic Conference women's tennis season, as the Cardinals secured a repeat trophy and trip to the NCAA Division III Championships Saturday afternoon!

The Cardinals, besting Ohio Northern 5-2, earn the program's first back-to-back titles in securing both OAC regular season and tournament crowns with little doubt. Otterbein improves to 15-6 as a team this year and warrant a return trip to nationals.

Just as they did in the regular-season matchup back on April 11, Otterbein swept all three doubles courts to grab a monumental lead in the race to five points. Lillia Walter and Aubrey McMahon (W 8-2 were the first to hit the scoreboard, Rachelle Moses and Julia Gillin (W 8-3) followed while Erin Storrer and Olivia Eckels (W 8-4) pushed the team into a 3-0 lead…

"We have always prioritized doubles and take that very seriously," head coach Tyler Stephen began. "It can be a lot less lonely playing with someone and our kids embrace that element."

"We knew that if we got all three doubles courts, it would almost be it," added Walter. "That was huge for us and I'm proud of the girls for jumping out like we wanted to."

Singles play would see close and competitive points on most every court, as the Polar Bears certainly kept things interesting by earning tallies in the middle of the lineup (third and fourth). But Otterbein's top guns would be too much to handle as Storrer and Walter sealed the deal..

"Ohio Northern is a really good team and they battled… I think the singles scores reflect that," Stephen continued. "But our doubles success moved the odds in our favor significantly. The work and attention in practice continues paying off.."

Storrer, likely to become a 3x OAC Player of the Year very soon, cruised by counts of 6-0, 6-3 atop the chart. Walter fought off a pesky Jamie Hurst on the second court in the form of 7-5, 6-2 in securing the clinching point for a second year in a row…

"These girls hold a really good balance of focusing on the task at hand while understanding the larger picture," Stephen said. "Winning takes talent, repeating something like this takes character. They know what needs to be done and never overlook an opponent or act over-confident."

ONU was leading fifth singles while Eckels was in a third-set showdown on the sixth line at time of conclusion.

The Cardinals will now get back into the Big Dance once again after making the second round a year ago, beating Webster before a loss to No. 10-ranked Sewanee.

"We had some adversity early on in February, playing a tough schedule and not feeling the best sometimes," Walter mentioned. "But we focused on what we could control and just kept building. I'm super excited for another NCAA experience. Hopefully we start with a W again and see what happens from there."

Stay tuned for more coverage and full NCAA preview in the coming weeks!