Granville, Ohio- After five straight away matches, the Big Red volleyball team returned home to Livingston Gymnasium to take on the DePauw Tigers for their fourth in-conference match.
To snap their losing streak, the Big Red were able to cage the Tigers in a 3-1 decision. This marks Denison's first conference win of the season, moving the Big Red to 9-13 overall.
Up Next: The Big Red will be back in Livingston on Thursday to take on the Heidelberg Student Princes in a NCAC-OAC crossover matchup.
Match 1 (Denison 3, DePauw 1) (25-22, 25-23, 17-25, 25-21)
With the weight of seven consecutive losses hanging over Denison, the Big Red took the court in Livingston Gymnasium against the DePauw Tigers.
In the opening set, the Tigers came out swinging first. After falling into an early 3-0 deficit, Denison was able to tie the set back up at eight all. Both squads traded the lead, but a quick pair of kills from Maeve Perry and Ayla Dunbar were able to spark the Big Red's momentum for the rest of the set. Knotted at 20, the Big Red capitalized on errors from DePauw, coupled with a big-time ace from Kate Sicklick, to carry Denison to a 1-0 match lead.
In the second set, the Big Red found themselves in another early hole. Behind 7-1, Denison was able to fall back on a multitude of players to get back into the swing of things. Alice Kempf and Dunbar fired a trio of aces to complement the pair of kills from Emily Monachino and Claire Hamilton. Bringing the match within three, the Big Red would hang 10 of the next 12 points to take control of the set. In the closing moments, the powerful offensive attack was able to force three DePauw errors to claim a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers were able to find their footing and avoid a sweep in the third set. The Big Red were able to string together some points, but the Tigers were too much to topple, pushing the match into a fourth set.
In the final set, the Big Red had to fight to earn its first conference win. Finding themselves in another early hole, Sadie Habeeb found space to record an ace to give the Big Red life. The heavy-hitting trio of Perry, Hamilton, and Dunbar stood tall and scored three kills to get Denison back into action. Sicklick recorded another ace while Whitley Metz recorded her first of the night. The Big Red frontline continued to rain terror on the DePauw offense, causing multiple errors. In the closing moments, Hamilton sent home two kills while Perry recorded her 15th kill of the night to send the Tigers home with a loss.
Perry led both teams with 15 kills while Dunbar and Hamilton recorded 13 and 11, respectively. Kempf continued to dominate the assist column, tallying 31 on the night. Habeeb led the way with 18 digs.
