MARIETTA, Ohio (September 19, 2023) – The final match before the start of North Coast Athletic Conference action saw the Denison University volleyball team come up short against Marietta College, 3-1 (25-19, 18-25, 25-20, 25-20), on Tuesday night at Ban Johnson Arena.

Marietta (5-6 overall) won the first set hitting .542 percent with 14 kills and just one error while Denison (5-7) hit .464 percent with 15 kills and just two errors to win the second set.

Denison led by scores of 12-7 after a kill by Alice Kempf and 16-12 after a kill by Corinne Boyd in the first set, but four straight kills by the Pioneers tied the set and forced a timeout by the Big Red.

Then after a service error by Marietta, three straight errors by the Big Red (1 serving, 2 attacking) were followed by back-to-back aces by the Pioneers' Emma Weiseman to put the home team in front 21-17.

In the end, Marietta closed out the opening set on a 13-3 run, but in the second set, Denison led the whole way and went ahead by scores of 17-12 and 20-13 before winning it on a kill by Cailey Johns.

The Pioneers were able to win the third set using a pair of 4-0 runs to make it 12-8 and then later 18-12. Denison was able to get back to within two at 22-20 after a kill by Claire Hamilton and back-to-back service aces by Ayla Dunbar. However, Marietta, won the next three points on a kill, a Big Red attack error and then a service ace to finish it off and take the 2-1 set lead.

Lastly, in the fourth set, Denison led 18-16 following kills by Kempf and Hamilton, but Marietta answered with a 5-0 run featuring three kills and a block by Jillian Fellers and ending with a service ace by Weiseman to go up by three (21-18). Marietta then won three of the final five points to earn the victory.

Hamilton led the Big Red in kills with 12 while Boyd had 11 kills and hit .409 percent. Kelly McCaskey (10 kills; 13 digs) and Kempf (39 assists; 13 digs) both recorded double-doubles while Sadie Habeeb led the way defensively with 16 digs.

The Big Red will return to Livingston Gymnasium at 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 23, when they open up NCAC play against DePauw University.