GRANVILLE, Ohio (Sept. 11) --
Claire Hamilton registered a career-high 23 kills to help guide the Denison University volleyball team to a four-set victory over visiting Muskingum University in its home opener Wednesday evening at Livingston Gymnasium.
Denison 3, Muskingum 1 (25-12, 20-25, 25-23, 25-20)
The win improves Denison to 3-4 while Muskingum drops to 5-3.
Denison broke open a back and forth first set to win in convincing fashion. After neither team led by more than two points, the Big Red recorded the final 12 points to run away with the opening set. The extended run included three kills by
Claire Hamilton and a pair of service aces by
Ayla Dunbar, who carried Denison through the entirety of the run from the service line. Denison put together a strong first set. The Big Red hit at a .361 clip with 14 kills and just one attack error. Hamilton hit .467 with seven kills in the opening set win.
The momentum from the opening set win did not carry over for Denison. The Muskies regrouped and built a quick 9-2 lead in the second. The Big Red battled back from the early hole and cut the deficit to two points with a Hamilton kill and an ace by
Sadie Habeeb to make the score 14-12 and force a Muskies' timeout. Denison would eventually trim the deficit to a single point before Muskingum held the hosts at bay for the remainder of the set. Back-to-back points stretched the Muskingum lead to 22-18 and force Denison to take a timeout. The Big Red cut it back to two but the Muskies finished things off for a 25-20 win to even the match.
Denison was able to take a hard-fought third set in comeback fashion. The Muskies used five-straight points to build a 9-4 lead. The Big Red was able to regroup with six-straight points to push back in front at 10-9 after back-to-back service aces by
Devon Moore. After consecutive points put the Muskies back in front, Denison rattled off nine-straight points to lead 19-11. The Big Red were once again fueled by three kills by Hamilton during the run. The Muskies responded with six consecutive points to trim the Denison lead to 19-17. Another kill by Hamilton ended the run but Muskingum continued to battle before evening the score at 22-22. A service error by Muskingum and an ace by
Ryan Kotalik pushed the momentum in favor of the hosts who eventually claimed the set 25-23.
The fourth set followed a familiar script, as a strong start propelled Muskingum to a 10-5 lead to force a Denison timeout. The Big Red countered with a 7-2 run to pull even at 12-12 on a kill by Hamilton. Following back-to-back Muskingum points, Denison followed with three-straight points to take its first lead of the fourth set. Following a point by the Muskies that evened the score at 15-15, Denison took the lead for good. Moore finished off a long rally with a tip that fell to the floor to stretch the lead to 20-17. Kotalik tallied two more service aces as Denison secured the 25-20 set four win to seal the victory.
Hamilton's 23-kill effort well surpassed her previous high of 17 from the 2023 season versus Hiram.
Alice Kempf contributed 44 assists and 16 digs. Habeeb led defensively with 18 digs.
Denison performed well in service. The Big Red finished with 13 service aces on the evening. Five players recorded multiple aces including Dunbar, Kotalik and Moore, who finished with three each.
Mackenzie Krous, the numerical counterpart of Hamilton while also wearing No. 10, also turned in a strong effort, finishing with a team-high 20 kills for the Muskies.
The Big Red hits the road for three matches this weekend in Bluffton, Ohio. The Big Red takes on Penn State Behrend to open its stay at the Sommer Center Spiketacular on Friday, Sept. 13.
