Sandusky, Ohio - The Oberlin College volleyball team concluded its season-opening weekend at the Battle Point, dropping a tight five-set affair to the Muskingum University Muskies by the scores of 14-25, 27-25, 25-19, 16-25, and 6-15.

The junior duo of Josie Macdonald and Zeynep Kaya paced the Oberlin attack, combining for 31 kills with Macdonald hammering home a career-best 17 on 50 swings en route to finishing with a .240 success rate. 

Senior Cami Sweet was active in the middle, registering eight kills to go along with three solo blocks and four block assists. 

Four Yeowomen posted double-digit kills with Kaya leading the way with 16 while Iris Archibald added 14. Macdonald and Julia Hall each chipped in 12 digs in the setback. 

After a lackluster first set from Oberlin, the Yeowomen came to life in the second session. Five straight Musky points erased a 16-14 Oberlin edge, but the Yeowomen would answer back with four consecutive tallies of their own to go up 20-19. Later trailing 24-22 and facing set point, Hall delivered a kill and an ace to even the frame. Oberlin was again in jeopardy of going down 2-0 in the match but would rip off three points with finishes from Macdonald and Hall before a Musky attack error gave Oberlin the win.

The Yeowomen would use that momentum to build up a 10-1 advantage in the third, however, Muskingum wouldn't go away quietly. The Muskies chipped away to within three, 13-10, but Oberlin would regain control with a mini 3-0 spurt. Once again the fishes kept nibbling at the heels of the Yeowomen, crawling back to within one at 20-19 before Oberlin closed the stanza with five straight points. 

Oberlin jumped out to a 3-0 to start the fourth set and appeared to be on its way to its first victory of the season but the Muskies had other ideas, rallying to build up an 18-9 lead en route to forcing a deciding fifth set. Unfortunately for Oberlin, Muskingum would ride that wave into the race to 15 as the Yeowomen never really threatened down the stretch.

Oberlin will host its own two-day invitational next weekend with its opening match set for 2 p.m. on Friday, September 6 against John Carroll University.