Following a thrilling 3-2 victory against Ohio Wesleyan University, the Ladies volleyball team looked to build momentum against the DePauw Tigers this past Saturday. However, in a hard-fought match, the Ladies ended up falling in four sets, 21-25, 20-25, 25-21, 16-25. This was the first loss for the Ladies in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) division, where they now sit at 3-1, boasting an overall record of 13-7 .

The first set was a back-and-forth contest, as the score was tied 17-17 nearing the end. The Tigers were able to mount a 5-0 run and win the set. While Kenyon had fewer errors than DePauw had in the first set (5-6), the Tigers were able to tally more kills (16-11).

The Ladies dropped the second set, and even though they were able to tie the set on various occasions, they could not break through in the end. The Ladies were still able to get more kills than the Tigers by a score of 14-12.

The third set was when the Ladies were able to come out on top. Led by Haley Witschey ’20, who scored five kills while committing zero errors, the Ladies won the set 25-21. Delaney Swanson ’19 and Elyse Davidson ’21 also contributed three kills. The success in this set for the Ladies was largely due to their hitting percentage of .222 (their highest on the day), and they held the Tigers to a .081 hitting percentage (the Tigers’ lowest on the day). “I think we surprised DePauw with our grit, and relentlessness is a theme we work on in every single practice.” Ellie Luciani ’22 said.

In the fourth set, the Ladies were not able to stop the Tigers, who posted their highest kill amount (18), lowest error count (4), and the highest hitting percentage of the match (.368).

The Ladies posted a .160 overall hitting percentage, with Witschey leading the team in kills with 14. Katie Howard ’22 led the team in digs with 15, while Meghan Cason ’21 led the Ladies with 31 assists.

“I definitely think that as a team, we fought hard against DePauw. We played a tight match, and some things didn’t go our way, but it was a great opportunity to get better for the NCAC tournament,” Luciani said. “Going forward, we’re looking to just tighten up details and execution, because it’s the little things that matter in this competitive conference. I think we’re really looking forward to play hard this week against tough teams.”

The Ladies’ next match is against the College of Wooster on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. They then host a tri-match against Hiram College and Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Saturday, Oct. 21.