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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Kenyon College made waves on day two of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, taking two wins away from higher seeded opponents. The Ladies took down their first straight-set win of the season against The College of Wooster and closed out the day by outlasting Oberlin College in five sets in the fifth-place match.
Sierra DeLeon roared out of the gate with seven kills in the first set, leading the Ladies to a 25-21 win in the opening set. Her final two kills of the set were what separated Kenyon from the Fighting Scots late. She finished the first game with 11 kills to lead the team, offensively. Kaitlyn Power finished off the set with a service ace, which served as one of seven the Ladies put together in the match.
Kenyon, the No. 8 seed, outlasted the sixth-seeded Fighting Scots in the second set, 25-22, and then put together a comeback from four points down to take away the third set, 26-24. After DeLeon made for a two-point game, 22-20, Wooster's Paige Parker committed an attack error and Zoe Zwegat's ball handling error allowed the Ladies to tie it up. After Wooster used its second timeout, the Fighting Scots forced set point with a kill, but Kenyon again tied it up and rode Mary Jo Scott's go-ahead kill and benefitted from one final Wooster attack error to close out the match, 26-24.
With a short turnaround heading into the fifth place match, Kenyon drew Oberlin College in their next matchup. Oberlin defeated Allegheny College, 3-0, to advance but met the Ladies who were rolling. Earlier this year, Oberlin and Kenyon went the distance and it was the Yeowomen who pulled out the victory. This time, the script was flipped.
Oberlin (12-19) and Kenyon (4-23) split wins through the first four sets. After Oberlin ran out to a 25-20 win in the first set, Kenyon broke away just enough in the late part of the second set to even up the score. Amber Kraus pitched in with a pair of kills, including the set clincher.
The Ladies took a one-game lead by winning the third, 27-25, but had to stave off a fierce Oberlin rally that erased an early four-point lead. Tied at 25, a service error by Oberlin Meredith Leung set the table for game point. DeLeon clinched the set on the next point when DeLeon continued her remarkable day with another kill.
The Yeowomen responded by tying the match up at two games each, this time commanding the fourth set with a 25-19 win. The fifth set would once again decide a winner, just as it had in their regular season matchup. Kenyon went on a miniature three-point run backed by Power, who recorded a kill and a block assist, but Oberlin once again leveled the score. The match continued this way until both teams reached 13 points. That is where Sierra DeLeon registered the final kill of her career for match point and Jillian Hostetler's attack error finished the match off, 15-13, in favor of the Ladies.
DeLeon finished the day with 28 kills between the two matches. Her third kill against Wooster helped her leap into the 1,000 kill club, marking her just the fifth in program history to do so. She finishes her career with 1,025 kills.
Following the tournament, DeLeon was recognized with Second Team All-NCAC honors. This is the second time she has been named to an all-conference team. Last season, she was named All-NCAC honorable mention. This year's award comes off a season where she racked up 307 kills, averaging 3.46 per set.
Scott had a fine day, as well, totaling 20 kills and a .304 kill percentage on day two of the NCAC Tournament. Shank racked up 68 assists, 37 of those coming in the win.
The win grants Kenyon a fifth-place finish in this year's NCAC Tournament, bettering the seed that they entered with and knocking off two opponents seeded higher than them. They conclude the 2013 season with an overall record of 4-23.
