Granville, Ohio – The Oberlin College volleyball team dropped a North Coast Athletic Conference match in four sets at Denison University.
After taking the first set by a score of 25-21, Oberlin fell by scores of 17-25, 21-25 and 17-25.
On the offensive side of the net, senior
Dana Thomas recorded 11 kills in the match and had just three errors ending the day with a hitting percentage of .308. In addition, sophomore outside hitter
Lexi Mitchell led the team with 15 kills, and junior setter
Samantha Lam recorded a game-high 39 assists.
Lam also contributed on the defensive end as she tallied 16 digs, just one shy of her season-high. Defensive specialist
Emily Kelkar led the team with 19 digs in the setback.
With the score tied 8-8 in the opening set, the Yeowomen took advantage of some offensive errors by the Big Red and went on a 6-2 run giving them a 14-10 lead. In the final stages of the set, Denison would cut the Oberlin lead to 23-20, but a kill by Thomas and a
Claudia Scott service ace would give Oberlin the first set.
In the second set, the Yeowomen would watch an early 4-2 lead vanquish as the Big Red went on a 12-3 run leaving Oberlin playing from behind the rest of the set. Oberlin would cut the Denison lead to seven with a late kill by Thomas, but the Big Red answered with the game point on the next serve.
After a back and forth first eight points of the crucial third set, Denison sprung ahead with a 9-3 run and would not look back. Oberlin would make a late push forcing a Big Red error to make the score 24-21, but Denison would shoot down the Yeowomen run with another game-ending kill.
In the decisive fourth set, the Big Red would lead the entire time and jumped out to an 18-9 lead. Oberlin would fight its way back to within seven, but Denison held on the take the match.
The Yeowomen fall to 9-11 and 0-6 in conference play. The Big Red go to 11-9 on the year and are 4-3 against NCAC opponents.
Oberlin takes a break from conference play to face Anderson University on Friday evening at 7 p.m.
