Wooster Opens Season in Kentucky

BEREA, Ky. – First-year Jordan Laraway and junior Tamara Turner had six kills apiece for The College of Wooster volleyball team, which fell to Berea College 25-20, 26-24, 25-23 on Friday evening at the Seabury Center.

Wooster (0-1) led early, with senior Caroline Dillard's kill staking the Fighting Scots to a 6-3 lead in set one. A solo block on Alexis McCullough by senior Ty Thompson had Wooster back on top at 18-16. However, Berea (1-0) took charge late with a 9-2 run.

In the second set, Turner's ace primed Wooster to tie the match at 23-19, but Berea found momentum with consecutive kills from Lindey Fleming and Julie Santana to spark a 7-1 closing stretch. Serving played a huge role in the frame, with Dillard, first-year Emma Fleck, and Thompson all having an ace in addition to Turner, while eight service errors piled up quickly for Berea.

Turner's sixth kill of the night, plus a Berea attack error, had the third set tied at 23. Wooster nearly overcame a four-point deficit, with Laraway's kill helping the Scots close the game at 22-19. Errors on Berea's end tightened Wooster's deficit even more before Turner's kill.

Turner's 12 digs led Wooster, while senior Trinity Harmon and Laraway were credited with seven each. Thompson accounted for three of Wooster's four blocks.

Vanessas Ramic powered Berea with 13 of the team's 43 kills. Amanda Castro Diaz's defense resulted in 12 digs, while Idymel Ayala Rivera paired 22 assists with eight digs and three aces.

Wooster hit .126 for the match to Berea's .255. Overall, the match featured 24 ties and 10 lead changes.

Wooster has two more matches at Berea on the weekend docket, with Asbury University (1-0) up first at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.