Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
 

Wooster Downs Kenyon Behind Strong Play at the Net

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster volleyball team hit a season-high .348 and blocked a season-best 10 attack attempts during its 18-25, 25-10, 25-23, 25-11 win over visiting Kenyon College on Wednesday evening at Timken Gymnasium.

Lengthy runs were the central theme of the match, and it was Kenyon (5-17, 2-4 North Coast Athletic Conference) logging the first significant one of the night. The Ladies tallied five straight points to open a 10-5 lead in the first set. Wooster (10-13, 3-3 NCAC) had a five-point swing of its own later in the frame, during which the Scots pulled within 21-18.

Wooster caught fire at the right time in the second set, as nine straight points enabled the Scots to open a 12-2 lead. First-year Hayley Nash book-ended the stretch with kills, while classmate Sydney Fitzcharles served up a trio of aces. Later, Wooster tied the match up at one set each way with an 8-2 stretch. Senior Cami Miller headlined the closing run with two kills.

Celebration
Wooster, which hit a season-high .348 for the match, was especially impressive in the fourth set, during which the Scots had one attack error and hit .500.

In the third set, Maya Sapsford looked to catch Wooster off guard with a setter dump on the second hit, only senior Anna Medema and Miller weren't having any of it. The seniors swatted down Sapsford's attack, which tied the set at 19, and it was all Wooster from there. Miller kept a ball in play, and her free ball found the hardwood to give the Scots the lead at 20-19, a lead that wouldn't be relinquished. Wooster wasn't done at the net just yet, with Botsch and Miller upping the lead to three at 22-19 with a block, while first-year Emily Gail closed out the set with a pair of kills.

Six straight Wooster points opened the action in the fourth frame, and Miller recorded her fifth of a career-high six blocks during that stretch. Later, Wooster was up 11 at 16-5 after sophomore Katie Billetdeaux worked the sideline for her lone ace of the match, and not long after, Medema added two tallies in the kill column to close a 6-1 stretch.

Nash led all players with 16 kills, and she hit a lights-out .483 for the match. Medema followed with 14 kills and finished at a .267 clip. Both Medema (10 digs) and Nash (11 digs) turned in double-doubles on the night, while Fitzcharles' 16 digs led all players. Billetdeaux and fellow sophomore Brooke Swain factored in heavily to Wooster's strong efforts at the net with four blocks apiece.

No player for Kenyon reached double-figures in digs or kills, but the Ladies did have five student-athletes with at least five kills and five with at least six digs.

Noteworthy, Wooster's now logged its highest win total in conference play since the 2013 season, and there's still two league matches remaining, starting with Saturday's 1 p.m. tilt at Hiram College (14-11, 2-4 NCAC).