GRANVILLE, Ohio (November 3, 2021) – Following its first North Coast Athletic Conference Championship in program history, the Denison University volleyball team has earned the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAC Tournament, which will be held on Friday, November 5, and Saturday, November 6, inside Livingston Gymnasium. The tournament will feature seven matches in a single-elimination format across both days.

Spectator Policy: General admission is being accepted and will be subject to the NCAC's ticket pricing for conference championship events ($7 for adults per day, $3 for children per day, payable by cash or credit card). Students from all NCAC institutions get in free with their campus ID card, but there will be no pass lists for teams. Vaccines continue to be our best defense against COVID-19, and in preventing serious illness and hospitalizations, and for this reason, we are requiring all visitors to campus to be fully vaccinated. We ask those who are unvaccinated to please not visit campus at this time. As an additional measure, we will require all guests and members of the Denison community to wear masks indoors at all times unless eating or drinking.

• $7 for adults, $3 for children per day (one ticket good for all matches on each day – separate tickets will be required for each day)
• Students from all NCAC Institutions get in free with their campus ID card (no pass list for teams)
• Additionally, the first 25 Denison faculty/staff members each day will receive free admission
• Vaccinations remain required on campus.
• All spectators for indoor sports need to be prepared to show proof of their vaccination status.
• Kids under the age of 12 will be admitted, but they must wear a mask.
• All spectators are required to be masked indoors.

Denison University Athletics appreciates your cooperation in our efforts to keep everyone safe and to allow everyone to enjoy watching our Big Red sports teams.

Denison Spectator Policy

Campus COVID Information: https://denison.edu/campus/covid19

NCAC Ticket Policy: https://northcoast.org/Championships/ticket

For those who cannot attend, you can watch all matches online HERE.

Seeds and Schedule:
#1 Denison (8-0)
#2 Wittenberg (7-1)
#3 Ohio Wesleyan (5-3)
#4 Hiram (5-3)
#5 Wooster (4-4)
#6 DePauw (3-5)
#7 Allegheny (2-6)
#8 Oberlin (2-6)
Note: Ohio Wesleyan wins the head-to-head tiebreaker over Hiram for the third seed and Allegheny wins the head-to-head tiebreaker over Oberlin for the seventh seed

First Round, Friday, Nov. 5
A - #5 Wooster vs. #8 Oberlin - 2:00 p.m.
B - #6 DePauw vs. #7 Allegheny - 4:00 p.m.

Quarterfinals, Friday, Nov. 5
C - #4 Hiram vs. winner of Match A - 6:00 p.m.
D - #3 Ohio Wesleyan vs. winner of Match B - 8:00 p.m.

Semifinals, Saturday, Nov. 6
E - #1 Denison vs. winner of Match C - 12:00 p.m.
F - #2 Wittenberg vs. winner of Match D - 2:00 p.m.

Championship, Saturday, Nov. 6
G - winner Match E vs. winner Match F - 7:00 p.m.

In the first-round matches on Friday afternoon, Match A will feature No. 5 Wooster and No. 8 Oberlin at 2:00 p.m., while Match B will be a contest between No. 6 DePauw and No. 7 Allegheny at 4:00 p.m. In the quarterfinal matches on Friday night, Match C will feature No. 4 Hiram against the Wooster/Oberlin winner at 6:00 p.m., and Match D will pit No. 3 Ohio Wesleyan against the DePauw/Allegheny winner at 8:00 p.m. Additionally on Friday, the NCAC Senior Recognition Ceremony and the announcement of the 2021 All-NCAC Teams will take place immediately following the 4:00 p.m. match.

On Saturday, two semifinal matches will be contested, as No. 1 Denison will meet the winner of Match C at 12:00 p.m. and No. 2 Wittenberg will square off against the winner of Match D at 2:00 p.m. The championship match is set for 7:00 p.m.

Denison Season Overview: The Big Red finished the regular-season 19-6 overall and 8-0 in the NCAC. Culminating with its win at home over Wittenberg to claim the NCAC regular-season championship, Denison wrapped up its second 10-match winning streak in the last two full seasons under Head Coach Carter Cassell. In all, Denison is 7-2 at home so far in 2021, and will look to take full use of home court advantage for the NCAC Tournament.

Denison has been led offensively by freshman Daria Rodriguez (347 kills, 3.90 K/S), junior Lucy Anderson (272 kills, 3.06 K/S, .357 PCT), and sophomore Sophia Sobota (271 kills, 3.19 K/S). Additionally, sophomore setter Kirby MacKinnon has averaged an outstanding 11.00 assists per set (847 total assists).

On the defensive end, junior Jenna Corrao leads the Big Red with 459 digs (5.28 D/S) while Anderson has totaled 92 blocks, good for an average of over a block per set (1.03 BLK/S).

During the NCAC regular-season championship match on Wednesday, October 27, Denison defeated Wittenberg 3-2 (22-25, 25-11, 25-20, 21-25, 15-9), officially ending the Tigers' run of 14 consecutive NCAC regular-season championships. In that match, the Big Red had three double-doubles as MacKinnon had 52 assists and a career-high 24 digs, Rodriguez had 12 kills and 13 digs, and Anderson tied her career-high in kills with 18 kills and set a new career-best in blocks with 10. Additionally, Sobota led Denison in kills with a new career-high 22 kills, Corrao led in digs with 24 followed by Payton McElfresh with a career-high 23 digs, and Sidney Gossard and Corinne Boyd both added five blocks.

Both Denison (18 points) and Wittenberg (20 points) were in the receiving votes section of the latest AVCA Women's Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll on November 2. Additionally, as of October 24, Wittenberg and Denison were ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, in Region VII.

NCAC Athlete of the Week Awards: Denison volleyball earned three conference athlete of the week awards throughout the regular season:

10/11: Daria Rodriguez averaged 4.57 kills per set on a .311 hitting percentage while helping lead Denison to a 4-0 start in conference play. She added 14 digs and four service aces on the week. Rodriguez led with a match-high 20 kills, a .313 attack percentage and nine digs in Denison's 3-1 win over Ohio Wesleyan University on Wednesday night (Oct. 6), and then had 12 kills on a .308 attack percentage in a 3-0 sweep over the College of Wooster on Senior Day on Saturday (Oct. 9).

10/18: Kirby MacKinnon led Denison to another undefeated week by dishing out 113 assists (12.56 assists per set) over three matches. MacKinnon also recorded 25 digs and four assisted blocks on the week. She had 29 assists and nine digs in a sweep at Kenyon on Wednesday as Denison improved to 5-0 in the NCAC. MacKinnon then dished out 43 and 41 assists, respectively, in two nonconference sweeps against Mount Union and Capital on Saturday. She added 10 digs in the second match on Saturday against Capital for her seventh double-double of the season. MacKinnon currently leads the conference is assists per set and is top-three in the country.

11/1: Lucy Anderson tied her career-high in kills with 18 kills, hit .531 percent and set a new career-best in blocks with 10 to help Denison beat Wittenberg in five sets and win the program's first-ever NCAC Championship on Wednesday night in Granville, Ohio. Seven of her 10 blocks against the Tigers were solo blocks, including a solo block on the final point of the match to give the Big Red a 15-9 win in the fifth set. Then on Saturday, Anderson led the Big Red against Transylvania with 18 kills, seven blocks, six digs and four service aces, all while hitting .350 percent. It was her second match in a row with 18 kills, tying her career-high yet again. In all for the week, Anderson recorded 36 kills (3.60 kills per set), 17 blocks (1.70 blocks per set), nine digs and five service aces, all while hitting .431 percent.

NCAC Individual Rankings:
Kirby MacKinnon – first in assists pet set – 11.00
Daria Rodriguez – second in kills per set – 3.90
Daria Rodriguez – second in total kills – 347
Lucy Anderson – second in hitting percentage – .357
Lucy Anderson – second in total blocks - 92
Jenna Corrao – second in digs per set – 5.28
Kirby MacKinnon – second in total assists – 847
Daria Rodriguez – second in total points – 392.0
Jenna Corrao – third in total digs – 459
Lucy Anderson – third in total points – 375.5
Lucy Anderson – third in blocks per set – 1.03
Sophia Sobota – fourth in kills per set – 3.19

Tourney Notes: The tournament winner receives the NCAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament ... DePauw is the reigning champion after capturing the program's first NCAC Tournament title in 2019 … Wittenberg has won the most NCAC tournaments overall with 24 including 12-straight between 2007-2018, while Allegheny follows the Tigers with five tourney championships (1985, 1988-91). Kenyon (1986-87) and Ohio Wesleyan (1994, '96) each hold a pair of titles, while Hiram won the title in 2006 and Wooster earned the inaugural tournament championship in 1984 ... DePauw maneuvered its way through the tournament bracket two years ago as the No. 4 seed by knocking off Hiram, 3-2, in the quarterfinals, top-seeded Wittenberg, 3-0, in the semifinals, and No. 2 seed Denison, 3-1, in the championship match.

Media Coverage: To follow the action all tournament long, please check out our Live Stats (https://denisonbigred.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary) and Live Video (https://www.northcoastnetwork.com/denison/) pages provided by Denison Athletic Communications.

Additional Links:
NCAC Tournament Page: https://northcoast.org/sports/wvball/Tournament/2021
NCAC Tournament Bracket: https://northcoast.org/sports/wvball/2021-22/files/2021_NCAC_Volleyball_Tourney_Bracket.pdf