GRANVILLE, Ohio (September 24, 2022) – The Denison/Kenyon Quad started with a tough 3-1 (13-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-14) loss for the Denison University volleyball team against a strong team from the University of Mount Union. The Big Red then ended the day with a heartbreaking 3-2 (25-16, 25-18, 15-25, 21-25, 15-13) defeat against Case Western Reserve University in the final match of the tournament.
 
Match 1 (Denison 1, Mount Union 3):

• Denison got off to a great start in the first set with a 25-13 win against a Mount Union squad that was coming off a 3-0 upset of No. 8 nationally-ranked Wittenberg University on Friday night, the first win in program history for the Purple Raiders over the Tigers.
• However, after Denison limited Mount Union to a -.184 hitting percentage in the opening set, the Purple Raiders bounced back with 16 kills and only three attack errors (.295 percent) in the second set to grab the momentum.
• The Big Red actually led it 20-18 in the second set before a service error and an attack error tied it, and then two more attack errors finished off what was a 5-0 run for Mount Union to jump ahead 23-20.
• In the third set, Denison tried to get back the momentum as back-to-back kills by Sidney Gossard tied it at 19-19, but after another kill by Gossard tied it at 20-20, three straight kills by Mount Union started a 5-1 run to put the Purple Raiders ahead 2-1.
• Gossard and Lucy Anderson both recorded six kills in the third set for the Big Red.
• In the fourth set, Mount Union jumped out to a 14-5 lead and never let Denison get closer than to within six. The Purple Raiders hit .321 percent with only two attack errors in the final set.
• Anderson led all players with 18 kills and a .395 attack percentage while Gossard finished with a season-best 13 kills, Kirby MacKinnon dished out 42 assists, and Jenna Corrao had 24 digs.
• Additionally, Anderson and Corinne Boyd finished with five blocks apiece while Kelly McCaskey added 15 digs to aid the Big Red defensive effort.

 
Match 2 (Denison 2, Case Western Reserve 3):

• The first set saw Case hit .357 percent with only two attack errors while the Big Red hit -.032 percent with 10 attack errors.
• Down 2-0, Denison showed its fight in the third set with an early 10-5 lead after three straight errors (set error followed by two attack errors) by the Spartans. Two more attack errors by Case and a kill by Cailey Johns made it 13-6 Big Red.
• After Denison doubled up the score yet again at 16-8, another kill by Johns made it 19-10.
• Five of Denison's 14 kills in the third set came courtesy of McCaskey.
• In the fourth set, Denison went up 14-10 on a kill by Anderson, a kill by Sophie Tight, a service ace by Alice Kempf and another kill by Anderson.
• Denison then led it by five at 18-13 after an assisted block by Anderson and Tight followed by a Spartan's attack error, but a 5-0 run for Case tied it at 18-18 before a kill by Gossard finally stopped the run to make it 19-18 Big Red.
• Tied at 21-21, a monster kill by Johns tried to swing the momentum back to Denison, and then a big assisted block by Anderson and Ellie Martin made it 23-21 Big Red.
• A service ace by Corrao followed by another assisted blocked by Martin and Anderson would force the deciding fifth set as Denison hit. .256 percent with 16 kills, six blocks and four service aces in the fourth set.
• Seven of those kills in the fourth set for Denison were by Anderson, who then started off the final set with a kill for the first point.
• An assisted block by Anderson and Tight followed by an ace by Anderson made it 5-2 Big Red, a service ace by Sadie Habeeb made it 8-5 as the two teams switched sides, and then kills by McCaskey and Johns made it 10-5.
• Unfortunatley, tied 11-11 in the final set, a service ace made it a 7-1 Spartans' run to go up by one, and then the run kept going with a kill before a kill by Anderson finally stopped the bleeding.
• Facing match point, an assisted block by Anderson and McCaskey extended the match, but a heart-stopping block on the attack by Anderson on the next point left the Big Red with a 0-for-2 effort on the day.
• Denison finished with three players in double-digit kills and had three with double-digit digs as well. Anderson led the way with 17 kills and seven blocks, McCaskey finished with 12 kills, and Johns had a career-high in both kills (11) and blocks (6) as all three players hit .235 percent or better.
• On defense, Corrao finished with 21 digs, giving her 20 or more digs in five of Denison's last seven matches, while Kempf and Habeeb both had 11 digs and McCaskey and Tight both had nine.
• Martin added the first four blocks of her career while Tight finished with a season-high 40 assists and a new career-best of five blocks.

 
Records:

• With two losses on Saturday, Denison falls to 5-9 overall and Kenyon drops to 1-11 (0-8 in neutral-site matches), while with two wins, Mount Union improves to 13-3 and Case improves to 11-3.

 
Next Up: Denison's final match before the start of North Coast Athletic Conference action will be on Wednesday, September 28, as the Big Red welcome Bluffton University into Livingston Gymnasium for a 7 p.m. start.