SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (Nov. 8) – The Denison University volleyball team suffered a pair of defeats Friday evening at the OAC/NCAC Crossover hosted by Wittenberg University at Pam Evans Smith Arena in Springfield. The Big Red fell by a 3-0 score to Heidelberg before later suffering a tough five-set loss to Ohio Northern. 

Heidelberg 3, Denison 0 (18-25, 20-25, 18-25)
 
Denison dropped the first match of the evening in straight sets. Heidelberg took the match by scores of 25-18, 25-20 and 25-18. 
 
Maeve Perry registered nine kills while Cailey Johns added six kills. Alice Kempf had 18 assists. Ryan Kotalik paced the defense with 14 digs. 
 
Ohio Northern 3, Denison 2 (25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 19-25, 12-15)

The Big Red claimed the opening set by a 25-21 margin. After dropping the second set by a 25-22 score, the Big Red took the third set by a 25-20 margin. However, ONU claimed the fourth set 25-19 before taking the fifth set 15-12. The victory was the 20th of the season for the Polar Bears.

Claire Hamilton led all players with 22 kills. Ayla Dunbar added 17 kills while Katy McCaffrey chipped in 10 kills. 
 
Kempf racked up 52 assists and 12 digs. Kotalik finished with 21 digs. 
 
Sadie Habeeb totaled 20 digs in the match with ONU. With 30 digs on Friday, Habeeb surpassed 1,000 digs for her career. 
 
Denison outpaced ONU by a 68-61 margin in kills. However, Denison had 33 attack errors to just 20 for ONU.  

Up Next: Denison will host the 2024 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships at Livingston Gymnasium. The Big Red will face either fourth-seeded Wittenberg or fifth-seeded Hiram in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. The Wittenberg and Hiram winner will be decided in Tuesday's quarterfinals.