Paige Parker

WOOSTER, Ohio - The College of Wooster volleyball team got back above .500 in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings with a 25-18, 25-16, 28-26 straight-set victory over Denison University Tuesday evening at Timken Gymnasium.

The first set was a back-and-forth battle between the Scots (14-5, 4-3 NCAC) and Big Red (9-9, 4-2 NCAC), until Wooster went on a five-point run to turn a 13-13 tie into an 18-13 advantage. The Scots went on to record 14 kills and just one error on 38 swings (.342 hitting percentage) in the set, and Catherine Benton slammed down an errant Denison bump for the final kill.

Wooster jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the second set, and Paige Parker helped push it to a 17-9 cushion when she smashed down a powerful kill on a high-arching set from Lizzi Beal. Melissa Morgan served an ace for the final point to give the Scots a decisive 25-16 set victory.

Finally in the third set, Denison came out hungry and led 11-10 midway through, but Wooster used a 7-1 run that culminated with a Zoe Zwegat solo block to take a 17-12 lead. The Big Red stormed back to tie the match late, but another Zwegat block and then a kill gave Wooster the hard-fought 28-26 win.

Overall, Zwegat led the team with 12 kills (.647 hitting percentage), and Parker was next in line with 11 kills (.529 hitting percentage) and 11 digs. Beal and Autumn Berry dished out 22 and 13 assists, respectively, and Kelley Johnson paced the defense with 23 digs.

Next, Wooster will travel to Wittenberg University Saturday for a noon match-up, and then stick around to play non-conference opponent Alderson-Broaddus College at 2 p.m.