Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College volleyball team dropped its season-opening contest to the University of Michigan-Dearborn in four sets on Tuesday night at Philips Gym.
 
The Yeowomen fell 26-24 in the first and won its lone set of the match in the second, 28-26. However, the Wolverines went on to take the next two sets 25-19 and 25-23.
 
Sophomore Claudia Scott led the Oberlin attack with 16 kills on 44 swings, while Ave Spencer also reached double digits with 10. Sophomore Dana Thomas was active in the middle as she added nine kills to go along with two block assists.
 
Oberlin opened the match with a 4-0 lead in the first set and later led 19-15 as Kristina Langhans sent down one of her four aces in the match. However, the Wolverines made a strong charge to tie the game at 24. They would ultimately complete the comeback scoring the next two points on two Oberlin attacking errors.
 
The roles were reversed in the second as the Yeowomen found themselves trailing 19-13 midway through the set.  A 4-0 spurt that featured two aces from Scott cut the lead to two, 19-17, but UMD quickly pushed it back out to 23-19. Oberlin would not quit, scoring five of the next six points to tie the game at 24. With the game later knotted at 26, a block assist by Maggie Middleton and Ave Spencer put the Yeowomen in front and UMD attack error would ultimately end the set.
 
Unfortunately, the Yeowomen were unable to continue the momentum in the third, and their late rally in the fourth came up short as they trailed 22-18 and got within one, 24-23, before the match ended on Ashley Park's 23^rd kill of the night.
 
Junior Meredith Leung dished out a match-high 42 assists to go along with 14 digs and two aces. Molly Powers led the defensive effort with 16 digs.
 
Oberlin hit .145 for the match, while the Wolverines checked in at .235.
 
The Yeowomen are back in action this weekend at the La Roche College Tournament where they will play four matches over two days.