ALLIANCE, Ohio--  Denison volleyball opened the 2017 season on Friday afternoon with a split at the Mount Union Invitational.  In the opener, the Big Red defeated SUNY-Geneseo, 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 18-25, 25-14).  In the nightcap, Mount Union held off Denison for the 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-19, 25-19) victory.

Against Geneseo, Denison posted a .221 hitting percentage while being helped by 27 errors by the Knights.  In her first collegiate match, Emma Woerner led DU with 14 kills and was second on the squad with 12 digs.  Leah Reinfranck hit .320 and finished with 11 kills.  As a team, Denison totaled nine blocks in the match and five came from sophomore Alex Tubbs.  She also chipped in five kills on 12 attempts.

Katie Aucamp paced Denison with 14 digs and Julia Miller dished out 36 assists.

For Geneseo, more than half of their offense came from Grace Cergol who led all players with 27 kills and was second with 16 digs.

Against the Purple Raiders, the Big Red evened the match at 1-1 after a 25-23 victory in the second set.  Mount Union charged back with consecutive 25-19 wins in the third and fourth to lock up the win.

Woerner led Denison once again with 11 kills.  Reinfranck totaled nine kills and five blocks while Isabella Pivec chipped in eight kills and four blocks.  Kristin Thewes led the team with 11 digs while Miller and Kaileigh Poe posted 19 and 14 assists, respectively.

For Mount Union (2-0), Madelin DiBease led all players with 18 kills.  Allison Baird had 20 digs and Riely Schenk dished out 38 assists.

Denison (1-1) will face Grove City at 12 p.m. and Alma at 2 p.m. to close out the 2017 Mount Union Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 2.