Battling it out with Anderson University (S.C.), Transylvania University (Ky.) and Defiance College, the Kenyon Ladies volleyball team came up short in their three matches at the Bishop Invitational in Delaware, Ohio.

On Sept. 17, the Ravens won 3-1 against the Ladies, despite strong play from Kenyon, with several kills by Jac Cousineau ’23, Lauren Limbach ’22 and Macy Reimbold ’23. Throughout the match, Anderson made several attack errors that Kenyon took advantage of as they looked to close the gap. Unfortunately, these errors weren’t enough for the Ladies to bounce back; the Ravens had gained too much momentum in the game and, by the end, maintained strong leads that Kenyon couldn’t overcome. When comparing the team statistics, though, Kenyon consistently played better defense at the net than Anderson: While the Ravens had six blocks, the Ladies had 17. Additionally, Kenyon made less attack errors than Anderson (39 versus 28).

The next day, Kenyon competed in two more matches, one against Transylvania and the other against Defiance.

The first game didn’t go as well as the matchup against Anderson the day before. The nationally ranked Pioneers only lost the lead to the Ladies once, early on in the first set. After that, Kenyon trailed by a minimum of three points for the rest of the set. Transylvania quickly won the second and third sets, ending the game with a 3-0 victory. While Transylvania left the court with 43 kills, Reimbold only trailed the Pioneers’ leading hitter by four (11-7). Cousineau made 13 assists and Katie Howard ’22 successfully took 10 digs.

The Ladies’ second match on Sunday ended in a 3-1 loss to Defiance, though the game started out well for Kenyon. In the first set, the Yellow Jackets earned only five kills, while the Ladies had 15. Of those 15, Mary Hester ’22 produced seven, helping the Ladies to win the first set. Quickly after, though, Defiance was able to recover; the Yellow Jackets won the next three sets by at least a three-point margin. In the end, Hester finished with 14 kills, but Reimbold led the way with 15 total; meanwhile, Cousineau assisted over twice as many times as she did in the last game (29 assists against Defiance, compared to 13 against Transylvania).

The Ladies will compete next at Oberlin University on Sept. 23. After that match, less than 10 games will remain in the fall season.