WOOSTER, Ohio (October 1, 2022) – The Denison University volleyball team kicked off North Coast Athletic Conference play with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-20) sweep on the road at the College of Wooster on Saturday afternoon inside Timken Gymnasium.

In the first set, an assisted block by Sidney Gossard and Cailey Johns put Denison ahead 14-10 before Wooster threatened with a 6-0 run featuring four kills by Hayley Nash to go up 16-14.

After back-to-back kills by Gossard tied it at 16-16, Denison again went down by two before back-to-back kills by Lucy Anderson tied it at 18-18 and started a 6-0 Big Red run. Capping off that run was a kill by Anderson to make it 22-18 Big Red, and then after Wooster got to within two at 22-20, a kill by Sophie Tight made it 23-21 before a kill by Kelly McCaskey put Denison in front 1-0.

In the second set, Denison put together 18 kills, six of which were by Anderson and five of which were by Gossard, and then in the third set the Big Red had six kills with no errors (.750 percent) while jumping out to a 10-6 lead. The Big Red then led 20-15 in the third set with 13 kills and no errors (.722 percent) to their credit.

Wooster got to within three of Denison at 22-19 in the third set, but a clutch kill by Corinne Boyd on a tip by the Fighting Scots gave the Big Red the momentum back, and then after an assisted block by Anderson and Gossard got Denison to match point, the fifth kill of the final set by Anderson on the assist by Tight ended it two points later.

The star of the match for Denison was libero Jenna Corrao, who was all over the court and reached the 20-dig mark in only the second set.

Anderson, meanwhile, led the Big Red with 15 kills on a .429 attack percentage while Gossard added 11 kills and McCaskey had eight. Tight finished with 35 assists, a season-high for three-setters, while McCaskey added 12 digs and Anderson had four blocks, her fourth match in a row with four or more blocks.

With the win, Denison improves to 7-9 overall and 1-0 in the NCAC while earning a little bit of revenge over the Wooster (3-10, 0-2) team that defeated the Big Red 3-1 in the NCAC Tournament semifinals a year ago.

In one week, Denison will play at home for the first time this season in conference action as the Big Red welcome Ohio Wesleyan University into Livingston Gymnasium for a 1 p.m. showdown on Saturday, October 8.