Anna Medema

Junior Anna Medema continued her recent stretch of strong performances with a career-high 14 kills, which marked The College of Wooster volleyball team's high during its 23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-18 setback at Kenyon College's Tomsich Arena on Thursday evening.

Medema, who logged double-digit kills for the first time of her career during last Saturday's match against Hiram College, staked Wooster (13-9, 2-4 North Coast Athletic Conference) to a five-point lead at 13-8 and 14-9 in the opening set. Kenyon (14-7, 4-2 NCAC) bounced back to take a two-point lead at 22-20 before senior Mayia Karagianni's kill sparked a 5-1 Wooster run to close out the set. Senior Ashley Plassard and first-year Katie Billetdeaux rounded out the scoring plays in the frame with back-to-back kills.

Senior Marija Cyvas and Medema were the second-set standouts in the scoring column. Cyvas' back-to-back kills midway through the frame tied the score at 14, while Medema pulled Wooster within one at 18-17, 19-18, and 20-19 with kills. Despite Wooster's 20 digs in the frame, the Scots were unable to slow Kenyon's Delaney Swanson, who smashed down eight of her match-high 23 kills in the set.

Cyvas' solo block in the third set capped an early 5-0 swing for Wooster, which took a 7-6 lead over Kenyon. The Scots' strong block continued later in the set, as Billetdeaux and Cyvas teamed up for a pair of blocks that staked Wooster to a 21-16 lead. Mackenzie Bruzzio tallied a kill, and this time it was Kenyon which took advantage of a big run, as the Ladies outscored the Scots 9-2 down the stretch.

Bruzzio recorded three of her five fourth-set kills consecutively, and the Ladies went on to hit .310 in the final set despite 23 digs by Wooster, eight of which were logged by senior Gabrielle Basinski. Wooster pulled within three at 21-18 after kills by Medema and senior Eleri Miller, and a Bruzzio attack error, but the Ladies closed the match with a 4-0 run.

Plassard backed Medema's 14 kills up with 13, and the Scots' senior middle tallied five blocks on the night. Basinski totaled a match-high 22 digs to lead four Scots in double figures in that stat category.

Swanson logged one of the Ladies' two double-doubles with 11 digs to pair with her 23 kills. Elyse Davidson made a big impact at the net with a match-high seven blocks.

Next, Wooster hosts third-ranked Wittenberg University (17-2, 6-0 NCAC) at 1 p.m. on Saturday.