GRANVILLE -- The Denison volleyball capped off their three-game homestand in thrilling fashion, defeating Muskingum 3-2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-16, 29-27, 15-8) on Wednesday night at Livingston Gym.

The Big Red found themselves in a 2-0 deficit after dropping the first two sets by no more than four points. DU won six of the first seven points in the third set to take an early lead. Denison used that advantage to build their largest lead of the set at 19-7. The Muskies pulled to within seven late, but kills by Rachele Lock and Alex Tubbs sandwiched around a Muskingum attacking error kept the match going.

The fourth set was arguably the most exciting as the two teams needed more than the conventional 25 points to win. Neither team led by more than two points for the entire set. Denison grabbed just their second lead of the contest at 16-15 when junior Leah Reinfranck deposited a set by classmate Kaileigh Poe into an open area of the court. Reinfranck and Mary Massarelli put DU up by two with a double block of Chloe Brandewie. Muskingum answered with the next two points to square the match at 18-18, which started a string of point trading that eventually resulted in a 25-25 tie.

Brandewie and Chrystal McCoy put MU one point away from the match win with a double block, but an attacking miscue by Brandewie pushed the score even once again. Another hitting error, this time by McCoy, gave Denison a chance to tie up the match. However, McCoy hammered down a finisher to move the count to 27-27. Reinfranck gave the Big Red another set point opportunity with a kill that could not be saved by Courtney Nestoff. Put in an uncommon situation, Massarelli stood behind the line getting ready to serve up DU's fifth set point. The sophomore outside hitter delivered a ball that found the arms of Muskie libero Deidre Prince. The reception went back over the net where Lock could drive home the winner, pushing the match to a fifth-and-decisive set.

The final set was as tightly contested as most of the match. Massarelli gave the Big Red an 8-6 lead with a kill right before the changeover. Muskingum battled back with a Nestoff finisher to shrink the deficit to one, but back-to-back hitting errors put the home team up by three. Following a Muskie timeout, Brandewie picked up her ninth kill of the match to move the score to 10-8. Isabella Pivec got the serve back for DU with a cross-court finish. Following the Pivec kill, Hannah Glick checked in to serve for DU. The junior defensive specialist opened things up with an ace. Glick's service was kept alive by back-to-back attacking errors that put DU one point away from the come-from-behind victory. Needing a point to stay alive, Muskingum setter Rhieannae Cory fed McCoy but her attempt was rejected by Reinfranck and Pivec. Cory and Prince tried desperately to keep the ball in play before watching it fall behind the scorer's table resulting in the Denison victory.

Reinfranck and Lock led all hitters with 16 kills apiece, while Pivec added 12 finishers. Poe dished out a match-high 46 assists while also serving up two of the team's eight aces. Reinfranck also paced the Big Red defensively at the net with five total blocks, while Tubbs finished with four, including three solo rejections. Pivec also chipped in four block assists. Kristin Thewes collected 23 digs, while Lock and Poe had 14 and 13, respectively. Kristen Brennan also chipped in 11 digs.

Katie Hunt paced Muskingum with 12 kills, while Cory handed out 23 assists. Nestoff finished with four aces to go along with 10 kills. Defensively, Prince had 34 digs, while Brandewie and Mackenzie O'Shea had four and three block assists, respectively.

Denison improves to 7-11 on the season, while the Muskies fall to 13-7. The Big Red returns to action this Saturday when they travel to Hiram, Ohio for a tri-match. DU will open the day with a North Coast Athletic Conference clash with the host Terriers at 1 p.m. Denison will follow that up with a 3 p.m. match against the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.