Granville, Ohio: The Denison volleyball team hosted preseason No. 3 Hope College for its first home match of the season. The Flying Dutch grabbed the first set, but were met by a ferocious Big Red team. Denison claimed the second and fourth set to send the match into a tiebreaker. Ultimately, the Big Red pulled away to knock off No. 3, moving the Denison record to 4-0.

Up Next: The Big Red will travel to Ohio Wesleyan to take on Albion College and Calvin University for a Saturday doubleheader.

 

(Denison 3, Hope 2) (12-25, 25-19, 15-25, 25-19, 15-11)

The visiting Flying Dutch of Hope College came out on fire in Livingston Gymnasium. After falling behind early to a powerful Hope team, the Big Red knocked down five straight points to cut the Dutch lead in half. However, the Dutch attack was too much to handle in the first set, leading by as much as 13, and taking the Big Red down 25-13.

The Big Red were not ready to back down. In the second set, Denison jumped out to a 13-8 lead, punctuated by an ace from Ryan Kotalik. After Hope grabbed two points back, Kate Sicklick, Emily Monachino, and Ayla Dunbar were able to push the lead back to six. Capitalizing on their momentum, Denison continued to inch closer to knotting up the match at one all. In the closing moments, Claire Hamilton recorded the final kill off the assist from Sadie Habeeb to take set two 25-19.

Denison was able to keep things rocking into the third set, evenly fighting the Flying Dutch at the start. After trading leads, things were tied at 12-12. Hope went on to rattle off nine straight points to take a commanding 21-12 lead. Ultimately, Hope came out on top, winning the third set 25-15.

Not willing to back down from a fight, the Big Red stormed to an 8-1 lead to start out the fourth set. Whitley Metz capped off the run with an ace. Hope began to fight back, but the Big Red remained in the driver's seat, with Caroline Parkhurt, Monachino, and Hamilton recording kills to keep a safe lead. In the closing moments, Alice Kempf capped off three straight assists to Hamilton. The crowd at Livingston Gymnasium erupted as Hope committed a service error to end the set with a score of 25-19.

Heading into the tiebreaking set, the crowd sent deafening cheers throughout the bleachers as the teams took the court. Monachino and Dunbar both recorded a block to tally the first point of the final set. The teams battled back and forth. With the Big Red up 12-10, the Denison staff called a timeout. Hope responded with a point but was met with a miraculous run by the Big Red. Following a service error by the Flying Dutch, Dunbar and Kempf recorded the final two kills to secure the 15-11 win and notch the fourth straight win for Denison. The crowd stormed the court in celebration

On the day, Kempf collected an astonishing 39 assists. Hamilton racked up 15 kills and Monachino snagged 13. Monachino also hit 0.333 on the day.