The Denison University volleyball team posted a season-best .430 attack percentage en route to their fifth-consecutive victory of the 2010 season.  The Big Red defeated the Oberlin College Yeowoman 3-1 (25-16, 24-26, 25-12, 25-19) on Saturday afternoon from Livingston Gymnasium in Granville, Ohio.

Denison dominated the opening set as they jumped out to a commanding 21-9 lead.  Oberlin rallied to trim the deficit to seven (23-16), but the Big Red rattled off the next to points to take the early edge in the match.  After surrendering the first two points of the second game, the Yeowoman notched eight of the next 10 tallies to gain an 8-4 edge.  After falling behind by as many as five (18-13),  the home team went on a 9-3 run to tie the game at 22-all.  The Big Red continued to roll as they regained a 24-22 edge, but four unanswered tallies by Oberlin squared the match at 1-1.

The opening stages of the third game were tightly contest as the two squads were tied at 8-8 through the first 16 points.  However, DU erupted for nine unanswered points to jump ahead of OC.  The Big Red won eight of the next 13 tallies to lock up the set and take a 2-1 lead in the match.  Denison carried their momentum from the third game into the fourth as they gained a 10-2 advantage early in the set.  The home squad ballooned their lead to as many as 11 (22-11) before the Yeowoman rallied to trim the deficit to 23-16.  Junior Kristen Hughes (Downington, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) set the Big Red up for match point with a vicious kill.  After a pair of Oberlin points, Hughes closed out the match with another successful attack.

Hughes finished with a .500 hitting percentage after posting 14 kills on 26 attempts with just one error.  Junior Megan Early (Findlay, Ohio/Van Buren) notched a game-high 15 kills, while Lauren Strowder (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) recorded 12 kills.  In addition to her game-leading kill total, Early also logged two aces and registered a solo block.  Setter Claire Koneval (Solon, Ohio/Solon) finished with 56 assists, which was one shy of her single-season high set against Ohio Wesleyan (Oct. 6).  Senior Lauren Weidner (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) paced the defense with a game-best 30 digs.

DU improves to 8-13 overall and 4-3 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, while Oberlin falls to 2-19 and 1-6 in the league.  Denison returns to action on Wednesday (Oct. 13) when they travel to Springfield, Ohio to take on nationally-ranked Wittenberg University at 7 p.m.