By Tim Glon

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The No. 25-ranked Ohio Northern volleyball split a pair of matches on the first day of the Illinois Wesleyan Classic on Friday evening.

The Polar Bears (4-2 overall) began the tournament with a 21-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-23 victory over No. 22-ranked Elmhurst (Ill.) before falling to tournament host Illinois Wesleyan 22-25, 25-15, 26-24, 25-17.

Against IWU, sophomore Sydney Bapst (Grove City) led Ohio Northern with a season-high 13 kills.

Sophomore Chelsea Huppert (Bremen, Ind.) added 10 kills and senior Haley Potters (Wheelersburg/South Webster) had eight kills for ONU.

Statistics were not available for the Elmhurst match. Check back for updates when they become available.

The Polar Bears will wrap up tournament play on Saturday with matches against DePauw (Ind.) and Aurora (Ill.)