Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
BLUFFTON, Ohio – The Denison University volleyball team earned a split in its pair of matches Saturday afternoon at the Sommer Center Spiketacular at Bluffton University. 
 
Bluffton 3, Denison 2 (25-21, 25-19, 24-26, 21-25, 15-8)
 
The Big Red suffered a five-set defeat at the hands of the host Beavers in the opening match on Saturday. 
 
Bluffton took the opening two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-19 to open a 2-0 advantage. Denison responded with a 26-24 win in the third set and 25-21 in the fourth set to force a decisive fifth set. A hot start propelled the Beavers to take the fifth set and the match. 
 
A quartet of Denison players finished with 13 kills in the setback to the Beavers. Cailey Johns, Ayla Dunbar, Reagan Sass and Claire Hamilton led a balanced offensive effort. 
 
Alice Kempf finished with team highs in assists (33) and digs (21). Sadie Habeeb tallied 19 digs.  
 
Denison put together a .200 hitting percentage for the match. Meanwhile, Bluffton hit .258 during the five-set match. Denison put together its best efforts in the fourth set with 18 kills and just four errors.

The win improved Bluffton to 11-1 overall. 
 
Denison 3, Hilbert 0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-12)
 
The Big Red secured its second sweep of the weekend when they won 3-0 over Hilbert. 
 
Hamilton led the Big Red with 13 kills and a .450 hitting percentage in the victory. Dunbar chipped in eight kills while Johns added seven. 
 
Katelyn Chiu had 21 assists while Kempf notched 17 assists. Habeeb finished with 11 digs to pace the defensive efforts. 
 
 
Up Next: The Big Red (5-5 overall) heads to Capital University for a non-conference game on Wednesday, Sept. 18. Start time is scheduled for 7 p.m.