Eleri Miller

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster volleyball team was unable to capitalize on early momentum, as the Fighting Scots fell to visiting DePauw University 23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-21 on Saturday afternoon at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (11-6, 0-1 North Coast Athletic Conference) sprinted out to an 8-3 lead in the opening set behind two kills and a block from senior Eleri Miller and back-to-back kills by classmate Mayia Karagianni. The two seniors continued to stay hot later in the set and book-ended a 3-0 spurt with kills that pushed Wooster's lead out to nine at 18-9. In fact, the duo was responsible for nine of the Scots' 16 first-set kills, and for the frame, Wooster hit .351.

DePauw (9-7, 2-0 NCAC) rallied back to tie the match at one behind the hot hand of Suzanne Peters, who had six of her match-high 17 kills in the second set. Prior to the Tigers evening up the match, Wooster was within two at 16-14, thanks to a 5-0 run that included a Karagianni kill, a service ace by senior Ashley Plassard, a solo block by senior Marija Cyvas, a Miller kill, and a DePauw attack error.

DePauw utilized an early 5-0 run and a mid-set 6-0 burst to take charge in the third set. While the score didn't go Wooster's way, the Scots dominated at the net with four blocks in the frame, with Karagianni being in on three of them.

Wooster was right there with DePauw midway through the fourth set after back-to-back kills by Cyvas and first-year Katie Billetdeaux tied the set at 12. However, DePauw rattled off seven straight points, and three kills down the stretch by Plassard couldn't spark enough of a rally to get the Scots back in the mix.

Plassard led Wooster with 11 kills, while Cyvas tallied a match-high seven blocks. Sophomore Meghan Botsch tallied a double-double with 37 assists and 14 digs, while senior Gabrielle Basinski logged a match-high 27 digs.

Liv Hartman backed up Peters' 17 kills with 15, while Kaylee Nichols led a quartet of Tigers with double-digit digs at 17.

Next, Wooster hosts Oberlin College (4-9, 0-2 NCAC) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.