GRANVILLE, Ohio (September 1, 2023) – The Denison University volleyball team began its new 2023 season with a 3-2 (16-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19, 15-11) victory over Wilmington College during the opening match of the Big Red Invitational on Friday inside Livingston Gymnasium.

Denison (1-0 overall) was led by sophomore Alice Kempf with 51 assists and 18 digs while fellow-sophomore Sadie Habeeb added 17 digs and junior Kelly McCaskey had 12 digs.

Junior Cailey Johns led the Big Red in kills with 12 and was followed by seniors Corinne Boyd (.348 attack percentage) and Sophia Sobota both with 11. McCaskey and freshman Maeve Perry were both next with nine kills while freshman Ayla Dunbar chipped in with six kills, a .333 attack percentage and seven digs.

Lastly, Boyd finished with four blocks while Perry had three, and freshman Ryan Kotalik came up with a pair of service aces while matching Dunbar with seven digs.

Denison trailed 17-16 in the fourth set before an 8-1 run ending with back-to-back kills by Johns and a kill by Perry to get the Big Red to set-point, which was won on another kill by Johns just two points later.

After Denison hit .438 percent as a team in the fourth set, the fifth set was much more even with both teams earning eight kills.

The Big Red again trailed by one (7-6) midway through the final set before a 4-1 run featuring kills by Kempf, McCaskey and Johns and ending with a service ace by Kempf gave Denison some breathing room.

That made it a 10-8 Denison lead, and then after the Quakers got back to within one with a kill on the next point, a Wilmington attack error and a setting error were followed by yet another kill by Johns to make it 13-9 Big Red.

Back-to-back kills by Wilmington's Sofia Thomas cut Denison's lead in half to 13-11 before a bad set by the Quakers was followed by the final kill by Johns to end it.

The Big Red Invitational will continue on Saturday, September 2, as Denison plays Washington and Jefferson College at 11 a.m. before finishing off the weekend against Franklin College at 5 p.m.