The Denison volleyball fell 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 15-13) in their North Coast Athletic Conference opener at Hiram on Saturday. The Big Red rebounded later in the day with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-19) nonconference win over Alma at Price Gym in Hiram, Ohio.

In the conference opener against the Terriers, DU was led offensively by junior Elena Lein who registered a season-high 17 kills to go along with a .483 attacking percentage. She also had six block assists in five sets. Junior Brittany Perry and sophomore Rachele Lock each had 11 kills to help the offense, while senior Elsa Manning chipped in 10 kills. Senior setter Jessica Borsani finished with 34 assists, while her freshman teammate Kaileigh Poe dished out 25 helpers. Defensively, senior libero Emily Marguerite had 21 digs, while freshman Kristin Thewes chipped in 10. Defense presence at the net also played a key role as the Big Red accumulated 18 block assists. In addition to Lein's six, junior Annemarie Fischer and Perry logged five and four block assists, respectively.

Against the Scots, Lein posted a .526 attacking percentage after recording 11 kills in 19 attempts with just on error. Freshman Leah Reinfranck added seven kills, while Perry and Manning had six and five, respectively. Poe and Borsani combined for 35 of the team's 37 assists, while Reinfranck served up three of the squad's five aces. Marguerite paced the defensive with 18 digs.

Following this weekend's matches, the Big Red sits at 7-9 overall and 0-1 in the NCAC. After spending almost a month on the road, Denison finally returns to Livingston Gymnasium on Thursday (Oct. 2) for a 7 p.m. match against nationally-ranked Wittenberg.