GRANVILLE, Ohio (October 28, 2011) Just when it appeared the Kenyon College volleyball team was ready to roll to its second-straight victory over rival Denison University, the Big Red mounted a furious rally in Friday night's North Coast Athletic Conference volleyball clash. The Ladies won the first two, tightly-contested sets before Denison stormed back to take the final three for a 3-2 decision.

Prior to Kenyon's victory on October 15th, the Ladies hadn't beaten the Big Red since the 1996 season. Their bid to sweep the season series got off to a solid start with a pair of 25-22 wins, but Denison (11-16, 6-9 NCAC) wasn't about to go quietly.

The Big Red evened the match score at 2-2 after claiming the next two sets by 25-18 and 25-21 margins. Denison then moved to the verge of victory by creeping ahead of Kenyon, 14-12, in the decisive third set. The Ladies dug deep to thwart match point and get back to even at 14-all. The teams then traded points to get to 16-16, but the Big Red finally put the match away with the final two points.

At times, Kenyon (13-17, 7-8 NCAC) was its own worst enemy in Granville. The Ladies nearly had as many errors (39) as kills (40) and settled for a paltry .006 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, host Denison converted on .331 percent (70-16-163) of its attacks.

Sophomore Mary Jo Scott led the Kenyon offense with ten kills. Senior Mary Myers and sophomore Sierra DeLeon were close behind with eight kills each.

The offense sputtered, but the Ladies' defense was top notch in producing 18 team blocks. Senior Laura Harris set the pace with six stuffs, and DeLeon, Myers, and sophomore Ana Maricic each had five.

Kenyon wraps up its season Saturday at Oberlin College. A win over the Yeowomen would give the Ladies their highest win total (14) since the 2003 season and their first .500 record in the NCAC since 1999.