The Kenyon volleyball team has had a very busy week. After wrapping up the Great Lakes Crossover Tournament, the team traveled to Indiana to compete in the Franklin College Invitational on Friday and Saturday, before finishing the week off at home against Otterbein University. The Owls finished the week off 1-4, with a 3-2 win against Blackburn College (Ill.), and losses to Eureka College (Ill.), Franklin College (Ind.), Alma College (Mich.) and Otterbein University.

First on its tournament schedule, Kenyon earned its sole win of the week against Blackburn College in a 3-2 set nail-biter. Toward the end of the first set, the Owls dominated, thanks to a focused back row and big kills from Sophia Menke ’27, Abby Stenger ’30 and Olivia Gumz ’27. Kenyon won the second set in a similarly theatrical fashion, finishing it off 25-19, but then dropped the third 25-15. The Beavers took the fourth set as well, winning 25-22 and forcing a fifth set onto the Owls. 

Backs against the wall, Kenyon found its groove once again and made its way to a 15-11 victory after recovering from a few missed serves. Christiana Paul ’29 had a remarkable performance, finishing off the game with three kills and two blocks, stepping up when her team needed it most. Setter Hannah Schwemm ’27 had 38 assists throughout the match, the most she had for the whole tournament.

Next up against Eureka, Kenyon wound up in another five-setter, this time leaving with a loss. In the first set of the match, the Red Devils went on a seven-point run. Thanks to  back-to-back kills from Menke, Kenyon gained momentum, but it proved to be too little, too late. The Owls turned it around in the second set, pulling out a 25-13 win. With Eureka rattled, Kenyon won the serve back early on and went on a hot streak, making the score 9-1. The Owls finished off the third set with a dominant 25-11 victory, notably racking up seven aces as Eureka struggled on serve receive. However, the tide turned in Eureka College’s favor in the fourth set. The match concluded with a narrow three-point loss in the fifth set. 

Kenyon seemed to struggle the most in its third match of the weekend, against Franklin College, in the Grizzlies’ home gym. The two teams appeared to be more or less equal competition early on in the first set, with neither gaining a lead of more than four points. Kenyon earned its first and only lead of the set at 16-14, which was quickly reversed as the Grizzlies powered through a six-point run, ending with a service error that gave the Owls a chance to get back up. Unfortunately, Kenyon couldn’t maintain possession for long, and Franklin won the set 25-17. The Owls lost the second set by the same score and Kenyon continued to struggle into the third set, ultimately losing to the Grizzlies 3-0.  

In its final match at the invitational, Kenyon suffered its third loss of the tournament and eighth loss of the season after falling 3-1 to Alma College. After a tough 16-25 loss in the first set, Kenyon rallied and took the second 25-23, ending on an ace from Schwemm. Unable to keep the ball rolling, however, the Owls then dropped the third 25-18 and the fourth and final set 25-21. Despite the loss, Bryn Carrigan ’27 made her mark with 12 kills. Schwemm also had an impressive match with 30 assists and five aces. 

Back at home on Tuesday, the Owls were caught on their back foot when they began their fifth game in five days. Five-out-of-nine of Kenyon’s first-set points came from Otterbein errors, while the other four were earned by Paul, Menke and Gumz. The Cardinals went on an eight-point run to end the set 25-9. Kenyon came out with newfound intensity in the second set and stayed neck-and-neck with Otterbein for the majority. In the final moments, however, Kenyon got the step on Otterbein and took the second set 25-21. That was the end of Kenyon’s offensive success, however, as Otterbein took the final two sets 25-19 and 25-18, respectively. Despite the loss, Gumz had another powerful performance, garnering 13 kills and two aces. Schwemm was also dominant on the court with 22 assists and 10 digs. 

The Owls will spend all of this week at home, with two games on Saturday: Geneva College (Penn.) at noon and the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg at 4 p.m.