Oberlin, Ohio - The Oberlin College volleyball team got off to a promising start but things went awry from there as the visiting Wilmington College Quakers earned a four-set victory (20-25, 25-18, 25-15, 27-25) over the Yeowomen on Friday night at Philips Gym.

Julia Hall and Zeynep Kaya led the attack with 11 kills each, while senior Cami Sweet had nine finishes in the middle to go along with two aces, two solo blocks, and two block assists. Oberlin posted 11 aces in the match with three of those coming courtesy of Kaya, who also had 13 digs. 

Josie Macdonald turned in a solid all-around performance, dropping in eight kills to accompany 13 digs. Jillian Jendsen registered 26 assists, while rookie Genna Gauthier chipped in eight. It was Iris Archibald who guided the back row with 17 digs. 

The Yeowomen jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the opening set but the Quakers settled in and eventually trimmed the Oberlin lead down to one at 13-12. Oberlin was later clinging to an 18-17 advantage but a string of four straight points created enough separation to allow Oberlin to pull away for the set-one win. 

Unfortunately, Oberlin could not maintain the momentum in front of a large student-based crowd as the Quakers took the second and third sessions without much resistance from the Yeowomen. 

The home side would refind its rhythm in the fourth set but the Quakers answered every challenge thrown their way. A 7-2 Oberlin spurt put the Yeowomen out in front 13-11 but it would remain nip and tuck from there as no more than two points would be the differential on the scoreboard the rest of the way. 

Back-to-back service errors by both teams had the stanza knotted at 24-24 before Oberlin had set point following a Sweet send-down. However, back-to-back OC attack errors were followed by a kill from Brinlee Preston to end the match. 

Oberlin hit .149 match for the match while Wilmington had a.188 success rate. 

The Yeowomen have dropped five of their last six matches to fall to 2-9 on the year while Wilmington moved to 3-9.

Oberlin will open conference play on Saturday, September 28 at Kenyon College. The first serve is set for 11:00 AM.