The Denison volleyball team kicked off North Coast Athletic Conference play with a straight-set victory (25-21, 25-16, 25-14) over Kenyon on Saturday at Livingston Gymnasium in Granville.

The Big Red picked up their three set victories in three very different ways. Ahead 24-21 in the first, senior Elena Lein and sophomore Leah Reinfranck combined to block a Kenyon attack for the win. In the second set, Reinfranck served up one of her two aces on the day to send DU to a nine-point win. In the third-and-final set, freshman Olivia Buroker hammered down a kill to nail down the shutout.

Junior Rachele Lock paced the offense with 13 kills and a .542 attacking percentage, while Reinfranck hit .538 with seven kills in 13 attempts. The sophomore also posted five blocks, including two solo rejections. Buroker had 10 finishers and one ace, while second-year setter Kaileigh Poe dished out 33 assists. Defensively, sophomore libero Kristin Thewes had a match-high 15 digs, while Kenzie Kuhn and Lein had six and five blocks, respectively.

Tierney McClure and Delaney Swanson co-led Kenyon with nine kills each, while setter Jensen Shurbert had 23 assists, 12 digs and four kills. Lauren Kerr finished with two of the Ladies' four block assists.

Denison returns to action on Wednesday when they travel to nationally-ranked Wittenberg for a 7 p.m. match.