GRANVILLE, Ohio (Sept. 25) – The Denison University volleyball team battled before falling in four sets to 16th ranked and unbeaten Marietta College in non-conference action Wednesday evening in Livingston Gymnasium.
Marietta, who improved to 11-0 overall with the win, opened strong with a 25-12 victory in the first set. The Pioneers built an early lead and added to its lead throughout the second set. The Big Red trimmed the deficit to three when
Maeve Perry finished off a kill to make it 20-17. However, the Pioneers countered with five of the next six points to secure the second set.
After struggling with hitting in the first two sets, the Big Red turned things around for the remainder of the match. Denison racked up 17 kills in the third set en route to a 25-22 victory to force a fourth set. The score was tied 11 times and the lead changed three times in the third. Consecutive kills from
Kate Sicklick and
Ayla Dunbar gave Denison a 21-19 advantage. A few points later, the Big Red closed the set out with three of the final four points. Dunbar,
Cailey Johns and
Claire Hamilton accounted for those points with a kill each.
The two teams fought through a competitive fourth set. The Big Red, looking to push the nationally-ranked Pioneers to a fifth set, trailed by a 10-8 margin after a kill by Johns. Marietta was able to methodically pull further in front before building a 15-9 lead. Despite the deficit, Denison continued to hang around. Dunbar had the hot-hand, as she recorded three kills during a 4-2 spurt that trimmed the Marietta lead to 19-17. However, Denison could not get any closer, as they had the deficit at two points twice more before falling 25-21.
Denison had three players reach double digits in kills. Hamilton finished with a match-high 18 kills. Dunbar added 16 kills and 11 digs. Johns climbed into double figures with 10 kills.
Alice Kempf notched 41 assists and matched the team high with 16 digs.
Whitley Metz and
Sadie Habeeb chipped in 16 digs and 15 digs, respectively.
Denison, 6-8 overall, heads to Indiana to open North Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday, Sept. 28. The Big Red will face defending conference champion DePauw University in Greencastle at 1 p.m.
