HIRAM, Ohio (October 2, 2021) – The Denison University volleyball team finished with its second straight sweep to open North Coast Athletic Conference play, this time a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-19) win at Hiram College.

Setter Kirby MacKinnon earned her fourth double-double in a row with 45 assists and 13 digs while Daria Rodriguez was only one kill shy of her fourth straight double-double as she finished with 18 digs and nine kills.

Leading the Big Red in digs yet again was Jenna Corrao with 26 while Lucy Anderson finished with a new season-high 16 kills and Sophia Sobota had 13 kills.

Anderson hit .500 percent for the match while Sidney Gossard with .368 percent and had seven kills, and Corinne Boyd hit .308 percent with five kills.

It was the 10th match already this season Corrao has finished with 20 or more digs while for MacKinnon, it was the fourth time in the last five matches she has had 40 or more assists.

In the opening set, Denison led 10-4 before Hiam got to within one at 11-10, and then the Big Red led 19-12 after five straight kills before Hiram made only a 20-17 lead for Denison. From there, back-to-back kills by Anderson made it 22-17 Denison before two kills by Rodriguez and a kill by Boyd to win it.

In the second set, Denison led by scores of 6-1 and 9-3 before Hiram made it 11-8. The Terriers then got to within two at 15-13 before a 5-1 run for the Big Red opened it up to a six-point lead at 20-14.

The final set saw Denison have to come from behind 12-9 to take a 14-13 lead, and then the Big Red used its second 5-1 run of the set to jump ahead 19-15.

Denison is now 11-5 overall on the season and 2-0 in the NCAC while Hiram fell to 9-9 and 1-2.  

The Big Red will now return home for two conference matches this week against Ohio Wesleyan University at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 6, and then against the College of Wooster at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 9.