Wooster Drops Road Contest at Denison

GRANVILLE, Ohio – The College of Wooster volleyball team found some success early at the service line, but ultimately could not close the gap on Denison University during the Big Red's 25-20, 25-12, 25-21 win over the Fighting Scots on Saturday afternoon at Livingston Gymnasium.

Wooster (6-9, 0-3 North Coast Athletic Conference) fired off four aces in set one, two of which were served up by senior Caroline Dillard. Classmate Trinity Harmon had the team's third ace of the frame to get Wooster within 19-14. Dillard's second ace against the Big Red (8-8, 2-1 NCAC) had the Scots again within four at 21-17, while a kill by first-year Jordan Laraway closed the gap to 22-18 in the first set. Two Denison attack errors kept Wooster within striking distance before a Corinne Boyd attack went down for a kill for the final point of set one.

The aces came back in the third set, this time with junior Lucy Kinser having the deuce. A Laraway kill started a 5-0 run, which saw Wooster open a 13-10 lead on Kinser's second ace. Denison answered with a 5-0 run of its own to take the lead for good. Wooster was within one at five different spots, including at 22-21 when Emma Goss' attack was off the mark. At 16-15, juniors Amelia Mitchell and Tamara Turner blocked Goss, while the next two times Wooster climbed within one came on Mitchell and Laraway kills at 17-16 and 18-17, respectively.

Laraway and Turner had six kills each, while Mitchell followed with five. Harmon's 13 digs led Wooster as did Mitchell and senior Ty Thompson's two blocks.

Denison, which hit .277, saw Claire Hamilton and Sophia Sobota record 11 kills apiece. Ayla Dunbar's nine digs were Denison's high, while Katelyn Chiu passed out 34 assists and logged four aces.

Next, Wooster hosts Oberlin College (10-4, 1-2 NCAC) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11.