Sport can be a brutal pressure cooker, and on Thursday night at Seiberling Gymnasium in Tiffin, Ohio, the John Carroll volleyball team found that out in a harsh manner.

Leading 13-10 in the final set, the Blue Streaks could not close out host and top seed Heidelberg University and fell by in five games.

John Carroll had opportunities in every set to win. In the opening frame, the Blue Streaks held leads of 16-11, 18-13 and 21-16, but dropped nine of the last ten points to fall 25-22.

The Blue Streaks showed nice bounce back in the second frame. With Kit O'Shaughnessy serving, the visitors turned an 11-9 deficit into a 13-11 lead. It was 20-19 when the Blue Streaks burst to the finish line and took a 25-21 set to even the match. Leah Switalski and Alexa Webber each had five kills in the second game.

JCU took full advantage of Heidelberg's wayward game three, and stormed to a 25-18 win. The Blue Streaks never trailed, and used a 7-2 run to close out the set to take a 2-1 lead.

The fourth and fifth set had the Blue Streaks primed for an upset win, only to be turned away. JCU led most of the fourth frame, and when Alex Ehrett produced a kill to make the score 20-16, John Carroll was five points away from a date in the OAC title match. But some attack and service errors began to pile up, and Heidelberg tied the set at 22-22.

John Carroll served with a match point in hand at 24-23, but All-OAC hitter Sarah Parker of Heidelberg came through to tie the set at 24-24. The Berg then took advantage of a service error and a Jamie Kluding kill to break lose from a 25-25 tie to take set four, 27-25.

The fifth-seeded Blue Streaks shook off the unfortunate ending of the penultimate set and raced out to a 9-4 lead in the final set. The Berg clsoed to 11-10, but a Switalski kill and a Heidelberg error put John Carroll ahead 13-10.

Two points away from an improbable win, JCU surrendered four consecutive points and suddenly the Blue Streaks were facing match point against them. After an epic point where JCU saved four vicious attacks by the Heidelberg front line, Switalski responded with a kill to keep hope alive. After an O'Shaughnessy kill to set up their second match point of the night, John Carroll again could not get a final point down. 

Following another tie at 16-16. Parker delieverd the last of her 21 kills, and then Orlandi was blocked for what proved to be the winning point as a raucous home crowd erupted in celebration.

Webber finished with a team-high 20 kills while Orlandi (15) and Switalski (14) also finished in double figures. In her last career match, senior Sara Kaminski turned in a career-high 49 digs. O'Shaughnessy had 52 assists and 29 digs.

John Carroll's season ends at 16-14, while Heidelberg advances to the OAC Championship, where it will host second-seeded Ohio Northern.