GRANVILLE -- North Coast Athletic Conference rivals Denison and Ohio Wesleyan were involved in a back-and-forth battle on Wednesday night at Livingston Gymnasium. In a match that needed all five sets to determine a winner, it was the Battling Bishops that snuck past the Big Red, 15-11, in the decisive set to pick up the all-important league victory.

With the match score deadlocked at 2-2, it was Denison that struck first by scoring the opening three points of the fifth-and-final set. An OWU attacking error opened the scoring, while kills by freshman Katie Aucamp and junior Leah Reinfranck pushed DU's lead to 3-0. The Bishops responded with four-straight tallies before a double block by Aucamp and Reinfranck tied things up at 4-4. The two squads traded off points, moving the score to 7-7. Ohio Wesleyan's seventh point, a kill by Shelby Ksiazek, sparked a run that put the visitors up 10-7. The Big Red pulled to within two late at 13-11, but kills by Brianna La Croix and Krysta Iwanek lifted the Bishops to victory.

Denison faced a five-point deficit for the first half of the opening set, eventually trailing 17-12. Freshman Alex Tubbs finally sparked a Big Red rally with a kill off a Julia Miller assist. After a pair of OWU attacking errors, DU founded themselves down by just two. Iris Anderson broke up the run with a finisher of her own, but three-straight kills by Reinfranck tied that set at 18-18. Ohio Wesleyan was able to regain a 22-20 advantage late, but a five-point run by the home team gave them an early match lead. Senior Rachele Lock posted a pair of finisher during the surge, while classmate Sarah Bradley also had a kill. The DU run was also added by two Bishop attacking errors.

The Bishops evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-16 decision in the second set. Unlike their win in the first set, the Big Red trailed only one time in the third when the score was 1-0 in favor of the visitors. Denison compiled a match-high .250 attacking percentage with 14 kills and just six miscues in 32 attempts. They also served up three aces en route to a 25-21 win.

In the fourth set, it was DU that led by as many as five points which included a 19-14 advantage. Ohio Wesleyan slowly battled back, eventually tying things up at 22-22 with back-to-back kills from Kenzee Martin and Iwanek. Junior setter Kaileigh Poe regained the lead for the Big Red with a second-touch finish. Ksiazek returned fire with a kill to tie the score again before Reinfranck deposited a kill that set up match point for Denison. Consecutive finishes from La Croix and Anderson gave OWU their first lead of the set at 25-24. An attacking error by La Croix moved the score to 25-25, but an Anderson kill and a DU ball handling error pushed the match to a fifth set.

Reinfranck finished with a team-high 24 kills and a match-best .465 attacking percentage to go along with six block assists. Lock was next with 12 finishers and 16 digs, while Tubbs had seven kills and five blocks, which included two solo rejections. Poe handed out 23 assists, while Miller finished with 19 helpers. Poe and Miller each served up two aces, while Poe also put down four kills and collected 10 digs. Defensively, Thewes led the way with 29 digs, while Isabella Pivec and Bradley had four block assists apiece.

Anderson led all hitters with 25 kills, while Shannon Schlater had 48 of OWU's 57 assists. Erin Cannon collected 20 digs, while Martin finished with seven block assists. Libero Nina Carmichael-Tanaka served up four of her squad's 10 aces.

Denison falls to 8-13 overall and 1-3 in NCAC play, while the Bishops move to 13-6 and 4-2 in the league. The Big Red is back in action this Saturday when they travel to Allegheny for a 5 p.m. match.