The Big Red volleyball team extended their winning streak to five matches following a thrilling five-set (25-17, 25-23, 22-25, 20-25, 16-14) victory over North Coast Athletic Conference rival Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday night at Branch Rickey Arena in Delaware, Ohio.

The Battling Bishops lived up to their name as they rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth-and-decisive set.  For the fifth time in the match, OWU recorded the opening point of the set.  Senior Lauren Gustafson quickly recorded a kill to even the score, and the tightly contested set was off-and-running.  After trading points throughout the entire set, sophomore Elena Lein hammered down a kill to give DU an 8-7 lead as the two squads switch sides of the court.

With the score tied at 10-10, Denison recorded back-to-back points, which was a rarity in the set, to take a 12-10 lead and force the Bishops to call a timeout.  The Big Red extended its lead to three, the largest by either team, when sophomore Kenzie Kuhn and Gustafson combined for a block.  OWU battled back and tied the set for the ninth time at 13-13.  After the two teams traded points, Kuhn came up with a thunderous kill off an assist from freshman Carly Newell.  Off the serve of senior Sarah Blum, Denison earned its fifth-straight victory when the Bishops committed an attacking error on the final play of the match.

Despite dropping the first point of the opening set, the Big Red controlled the majority of play.  Ahead 5-4, DU engineered a 13-6 run to take a commanding eight-point lead.  Denison built up a 23-13 lead before nailing down an eight-point win.  In the second set, the Big Red trailed by four points on three different occasions early in the match, including a 13-9 deficit.  The visiting team rattled off five-straight points to gain its first lead of the set since they held a slim 6-5 edge.  With the score now tied at 20-20, DU notched back-to-back points to take a 22-20 lead.  Ohio Wesleyan shrunk the deficit to one three times before Denison secured the 25-23 win.

The Bishops trailed by as many as five points midway through the set, but a 13-4 run gave the home team a 23-19 lead.  After seeing its advantage dwindle down to one, OWU scored back-to-back points to send the match to a fourth set.  The two squads were tied at 12-12 through the first 24 points of the fourth set.  All tied up, the Bishops regained the lead with three-consecutive points.  Denison cut the deficit to one, but eventually dropped a five-point decision which set up the fifth-and-final set.

Lein and freshman Rachele Lock led the offense with a 17 kill each. For Lock, it marked her second-straight match with 17 finishers.  Sophomore Brittany Perry posted 13 kills, while Gustafson hammered out nine.  The setter duo of junior Jessica Borsani and Newell combined for 64 assists.

Defensively, junior libero Emily Marguerite recorded 36 digs, while Blum finished with 17.  Borsani and junior Allie Becker each had 11 digs.  At the net, Kuhn and Lein had three solo rejections apiece.  Kuhn and Lock combined for four block assists, while Gustafson and Lein each recorded a block assist.

In addition to extending their current winning streak, Denison (16-5, 4-1 NCAC) also picked up its eighth win in the last nine matches.  On the flip side, OWU has now lost nine-straight and falls to 8-14 on the year and 0-5 in the league.  DU continues conference action on Saturday when they travel to DePauw University for a 1 p.m. match.