The fifth-seeded Denison volleyball team suffered a 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 24-26, 28-26) setback to fourth-seeded Ohio Wesleyan in the quarterfinals of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon at Pam Smith Arena in Springfield, Ohio. The Big Red will return to Wittenberg's campus on Saturday for their final two matches of the NCAC Tournament.

Denison fell into an early hole in the opening set, trailing the Battling Bishops by as many as nine points. Down 18-9, the Big Red orchestrated a 9-2 run that shrunk the Ohio Wesleyan lead to 20-18. However, the mountain proved to be too tall to climb as OWU would hold on for a 25-19 win. In a tightly contested second set, the Bishops put together another late charge en route to a 25-20 decision and a 2-0 match lead.

Despite winning the first point of the third set, DU was behind 14-11 at the midway point of the set. The Big Red methodically chipped away at the deficit, eventually tying the score at 22-22 which forced Ohio Wesleyan to call its final timeout. The Battling Bishops scored the next two points out of the stoppage to set up match point. Following a timeout by Denison Head Coach Lynsey Whisner, junior Elena Lein recorded a kill off an assist from senior setter Jessica Borsani. The Big Red regained the lead following back-to-back kills from freshman Leah Reinfranck. Denison pushed the game to a fourth set when OWU's Krysta Iwanek was called for an attacking error.

Trailing 6-2 early in the fourth, Denison rattled off eight of the next 10 points to take a 10-8 edge. DU went on to lead by as many as three on several occasions until a 4-0 run gave the Bishops a 20-19 advantage, swinging the momentum back in Ohio Wesleyan's favor. The two squads battled back-and-forth which eventually resulted in a 26-26. After an Iris Anderson kill gave OWU a 27-26 lead, a net violation called on the Big Red gave the Bishops the four-set victory.

Reinfranck paced the Big Red attack with 13 kills to go along with two aces and two block assists. The freshman middle blocker finished with a .480 attacking percentage after committing just one error in 25 attempts. Lein had 10 kills and five block assists, while Brittany Perry and Rachele Lock had nine and eight digs, respectively. Borsani dished out 28 assists, while freshman Kristin Thewes served up a match-high four aces. Defensively, senior libero Emily Marguerite posted 29 digs, while freshmen Kaileigh Poe and Kristen Brennan had 10 and nine each.

Anderson led OWU with 22 kills, while Iwanek and Brianna La Croix each registered 12 kills. Shannaon Schlater served up 52 assists, while Erin Cannon had 30 digs.

Denison (13-13) returns to Springfield on Saturday for the final day of the 2014 NCAC Tournament. The Big Red opens play on Saturday at 10 a.m. against Wooster, who fell to top-seeded Wittenberg on Friday in three sets.