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| Anna Medema |
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| Hayley Nash |
WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster volleyball team picked up its signature win of the season thus far, as the Fighting Scots downed North Coast Athletic Conference-leading Denison University 18-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-21 on Saturday morning at Timken Gymnasium, and in doing so, the Black and Gold snapped the Big Red's 10-match winning streak.
Wooster (9-12, 2-2 NCAC), which had a season-high seven blocks, leaned heavily on its play at the net to tie the match at one, with three of the blocks coming during the second set's homestretch. First, seniors Anna Medema and Cami Miller teamed up to swat aside Alex Tubbs' attack attempt, and that bumped the Scots' lead to 20-18. Next, it was Miller and sophomore Brooke Swain stopping Payton McElfresh's attack attempt, as Wooster upped its lead to 21-18. Later, Miller and first-year Hayley Nash combined on a block that made it set point, and Nash capped the frame with her ninth kill of the match.
Sophomore Katie Billetdeaux served up three straight aces in the third set, as the Scots opened up a five-point lead at 12-7. Later, Wooster re-upped its advantage to five at 17-12, with Medema logging the Scots' fourth ace of the frame. Medema and Nash tallied four kills apiece in the set, and Wooster hit .375 with 16 kills and four miscues on 32 swings.
Wooster's theme of strong serving performances carried over to the fourth set. That's when junior Meghan Botsch logged back-to-back aces as part of a 4-0 Wooster run. Later, Wooster had a second four-point swing, during which first-year Sydney Fitzcharles tallied consecutive aces on the stat sheet. Medema served up Wooster's 11th ace of the day for the match-clinching point.
Medema one-upper her career-high in kills with a match-leading 16, while Nash was one back of that. Botsch (45 assists, 12 digs) and Nash (19 digs, 15 kills) had double-doubles for Wooster, with Fitzcharles' 24 digs leading all players.
Lucy Anderson and Emma Woerner had 12 kills apiece for the Big Red, while McElfresh and Sophie Tight had 17 digs each.
Noteworth, the win marked Sarah Davis' 200th as Wooster's head coach.
Next, Wooster has a potential chance to knock off its second straight opponent that's unbeaten in league play. Wooster's at Wittenberg University (10-6, 3-0 NCAC) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 19, but the Tigers do have a conference match prior to squaring off with the Scots.