GAMBIER, Ohio -- The Big Red volleyball team kicked off the 2016 North Coast Athletic Conference season with thrilling five-set victory (21-25, 25-21, 25-20, 18-25, 15-12) over Kenyon on Saturday afternoon at Tomsich Arena.

The Ladies grabbed the early lead in the match, but back-to-back wins by Denison put the visiting team up 2-1. Kenyon forced DU into their third-consecutive five-set match with a 25-18 win in the fourth set. The Big Red hit no worse than .270 in the first four set, highlighted by a .378 attacking percentage in the third.

The fifth-and-final set was evenly played through the first eight points. The Ladies broke the 4-4 tie with four-consecutive tallies that gave them their first of two four-point advantages in the set. Facing a 12-9 deficit, Denison decided not to burn their second timeout of the set. Junior Leah Reinfranck registered a kill to move the score to 12-10, while an attacking error shrunk the deficit to 12-11 and forced Kenyon into using a timeout.

Following the stoppage, Reinfranck came up with three-consecutive finishers that put DU up 14-12 and made the Ladies use their final timeout. The Big Red continued to feed the hot hand of Reinfranck as she clinched the victory with a fourth-straight kill. In the fifth, Denison posted a .500 attacking percentage after racking up 10 kills on 20 attempts with no errors.

Reinfranck paced the offense with a career-best 24 kills and a .500 hitting percentage, while sophomore Isabella Pivec hit .448 with 17 finishers. Senior Rachele Lock chipped in 14 kills to go along with 19 digs. Sophomore setter Julia Miller handed out a career-high 62 assists, while Hannah Glick served up two of the team's three aces. Defensively, Kristin Thewes had 20 digs, while Alex Tubbs recorded four block assists. Pivec and senior Sarah Bradley each recorded three total rejections.

Denison improves to 6-9 overall and 1-0 in the NCAC, while the Ladies fall to 11-5 and 1-1 in league play. After playing their first 15 matches on the road, the Big Red will finally open the home portion of their schedule this Thursday when they host nationally-ranked Wittenberg at 7 p.m.