DELAWARE, Ohio (October 21, 2023) – The Ohio Wesleyan University Tri-Match started with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-22) defeat for the Denison University volleyball team against the Battling Bishops, followed by a another 3-0 (29-27, 25-22, 25-15) loss in nonconference action against Hanover College.
 
Match 1 (Denison 0, Ohio Wesleyan 3):

• Playing against one of two teams unbeaten in North Coast Athletic Conference action this season, Denison led 7-1 in the opening set after a 7-0 run starting with back-to-back kills by Reagan Sass and ending with a kill by Corinne Boyd.
• Denison led 11-9 after a kill by Claire Hamilton before a kill by Cailey Johns tied it at 12-12, and then back-to-back kills by Sass and Boyd tied it again at 17-17.
• From there, however, a 4-0 run by the Battling Bishops starting with three straight kills and ending with a Big Red attack error put the home team in front for good.
• After ending the first set on an 8-2 run, OWU used a 7-0 run to take a 12-4 lead in the second set before leading by as much as 10 twice in the set.
• After hitting just .051 percent (10 kills; 8 errors) in the second set, the Big Red rebounded to hit .312 percent (15 kills; 5 errors) in the third set and opened up the final set with leads of 4-0 and 6-2.
• Denison never trailed in the third set until after kills by Ayla Dunbar and Boyd made it a 17-15 lead, OWU went on a 3-0 run to retake the lead. Then another 3-0 run for the Battling Bishops broke a 20-20 tie and gave the home team the momentum they would need to finish off the sweep.
• Making her first-career start, Sass led the Big Red with 12 kills while Dunbar and Boyd both added seven.
• Boyd also added three blocks while Sass had two.

 
Match 2 (Denison 0, Hanover 3):

• After a kill by Johns and back-to-back service aces by Alice Kempf, Denison held set-point (24-21) in the first set but could not close it out as the Panthers answered with a kill followed by back-to-back services aces of their own to tie it.
• A kill by Sass gave Denison set-point again (25-24) before back-to-back Big Red attack errors, and then after a kill by Dunbar made it 26-26 and a kill by Johns made it 27-27, Hanover took the first-set victory thanks to two more Denison attack errors.
• Denison again had a late lead in the second set, going up by scores of 20-17 and 21-19 both times after kills by Dunbar, but a 5-0 run for Hanover flipped the script yet again and gave the Panthers set-point.
• Denison hit .042 percent (14 kills; 12 errors) in the first set, .070 percent (13 kills; 10 errors) in the second and -.027 percent (8 kills; 9 errors) in the third.
• Sass led the way with 10 kills while Dunbar matched her career-high in both kills (8) and digs (12).
• Kempf had 28 assists and 15 digs, and Maeve Perry had three blocks while Keegan Trainor had two.

Next Up: Denison will host its final three matches of the regular season in the next week and a half, beginning with Kenyon College at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 24.