Richmond, Ind- The Denison women's volleyball team traveled to Earlham College to continue their season in the Bill Brandes Memorial Invitational. The Big Red are joined in Richmond by the host school, in addition to Alma College, Heidelberg University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and, lastly, Kenyon College. In Denison's opening matchup, the Big Red fell to Earlham 3-1. Later Friday night, Denison rallied back from their early loss in a clean sweep of the Fighting Scots from Alma College. With a 3-0 decision, the Big Red moves to 5-3 on the year.

Up Next: Denison will resume action tomorrow back at Earlham, where they will take on Heidelberg and Rose-Hulman to close out their four-match weekend.

Match 1 (Denison 1, Earlham 3) (23-25, 25-23, 20-25, 24-26)

The Big Red were able to keep things close with the Quakers from Earlham College, but were unable to get momentum going to steal the win. Set one was a back-and-forth battle with both teams making strong runs. With Denison up 22-17 late, Earlham rallied to score eight of the final nine points to take the win away from Denison. 

Despite a similar see-saw-like match, in set two, Denison managed to knot the match up at one apiece. Both teams grappled to hold a significant lead with multiple streaks for each side. In the closing moments, the trio of Kate Sicklick, Devon Moore, and Alice Kempf worked together to take the lead and tie things up at one all.

Sets three and four did not fall in favor of the Big Red. Despite a tremendous fight by the Denison, the Earlham was able to come out on top, taking a 3-1 win for the match. The Quakers recorded their fourth win of the year while handing Denison only its third loss.

Kate Sicklick hit a whopping .423, while Maxon Perkins notched a .400 hit percentage. Sicklick shared the kill leaderboard with classmate Devon Moore. Moore also led the match in total attempts. Alice Kempf continued to reign terror in the assist column, racking up 30 on the night. Claire Hamilton posted 11 kills and 44 total attempts.

Match 2 (Denison 3, Alma 0) (25-19, 25-21, 29-27)
The Big Red took total control of their second match of the day. Bouncing back from their 3-1 loss to Earlham, Denison swept Alma in straight sets. 

In the first set, the Big Red took control of the match from the first play. Denison rattled off four points in a row and eventually built a nine-point lead late in the set, all sparked by a service ace from Katelyn Chiu. Alma did not go down without a fight, but a kill by Maeve Perry put a stamp on the first set to take a 1-0 lead.

In the second set, the Fighting Scots came out swinging, forcing the Big Red to adjust quickly. Late heroics from the Big Red ultimately put them on top. Down 15-18, Denison would go on to tie things up following a Claire Hamilton kill. With a slight lead, Hamilton, Alice Kempf, and Ayla Dunbar recorded back to back to back kills to take the commanding 2-0 lead. 

The final set of the day was arguably the most exciting. The teams traded leads early, but it was Denison that pulled away quickly. Down five, Alma would go on to tie things up at 20 all. The teams would go point for point till it was tied at 25. Needing to win by two, the teams cranked the intensity up. Knotted at 27, Kate Sicklick made a huge play to move the set to match point. Following a serve by Sicklick, an Alma attack error was the final blow to the Fighting Scots. 

Ayla Dunbar led the kill column in match two, recording 13. Kate Sicklick continued to put on a profound performance, hitting a season high of .545. Alice Kempf bagged another 20 assists. Additionally, Maeve Perry, Claire Hamilton, and Maxon Perkins lit up the kill sheet in the dominant win.