The Denison Big Red volleyball team secured their first three-match winning streak of the season after defeating North Coast Athletic Conference rival Ohio Wesleyan University 3-1 (25-11, 28-26, 20-25, 25-23) on Wednesday evening from Livingston Gymnasium in Granville, Ohio.

Denison fired out of the gate as they expanded their 5-2 edge into a 13-4 advantage early in the set.  The Big Red continued to poor on the offense en route to their 14-point opening-set win.

The second game was a different story as the two squads battled evenly throughout the first 20 points.  Tied at 10-all, the Battling Bishops scored five of the next seven tallies to take a three-point lead.  DU responded and squared the match at 15-15, but another OWU run saw the visiting team take a 22-21 edge late in the game.  Ohio Wesleyan recorded the next two points to set up a pair of set points.  Following a Big Red timeout, the home team rallied to score three unanswered points and tie the match at 24-24.  The two squads exchanged the next four tallies to keep things knotted up (26-26).  Junior Kristen Hughes (Downington, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) broke the tie with a thunderous kill to set DU up for game point.  The Big Red completed the comeback with a 28-26 win in the second set.

The Bishops dominated the third game to trim the Denison lead to 2-1 and force a fourth set.  In the fourth game, the home team jumped out to a three-point lead (8-5) early in the game.  Ohio Wesleyan trimmed the deficit to 9-8, but DU methodically increased their lead back to four (16-12) midway through the game.  An OWU timeout sparked a 7-3 rally that tied the match at 19-all.  The Big Red ballooned their lead back to 24-21, but a mini Bishop run trimmed the deficit to one.  However, Hughes hammered another monster kill to win the match for the home squad.

Hughes finished with 14 kills on 24 attempts, including six kills in the fourth and final set, while junior Lauren Strowder (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) notched a game-high 17 kills.  Junior setter Claire Koneval (Solon, Ohio/Solon) dished out 57 assists, while senior Lauren Weidner (Lake Barrington, Ill./Barrington) and junior Megan Early (Findlay, Ohio/Van Buren) each registered two aces.  Weidner, the reigning NCAC Athlete of the Week, paced the defense with a game-high 45 digs, while junior Brooke Beavers (Sylvania, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy) converted 20-of-26 dig attempts.  First-year Madison Owen (Novi, Mich./Northville) also logged a team-best four blocks to aid the defense.

Denison improves to 6-13 overall and 2-3 in the NCAC, while Ohio Wesleyan fall to 2-18 on the year and 0-7 in league play.  The Big Red look to continue their winning ways on Friday (Oct. 8) when they travel to Gambier, Ohio to take on the Ladies of Kenyon College.  Match time is slated for 5:30 p.m.