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HIRAM, Ohio – Saturday afternoon marked the start to the North Coast Athletic Conference schedule when the Kenyon College volleyball team went to Hiram College for a triangular match on Saturday afternoon. Hiram delivered Kenyon a 3-0 loss in its conference opener and then followed with a much closer five-set match with SUNY Fredonia, resulting in a 3-2 loss.
Sierra DeLeon had a two-match total of 27 kills to lead the Ladies offensively.
Kenyon (0-11, 0-1) opened the day's event against Hiram (9-4, 1-0) but was repelled in three sets by counts of 25-11, 25-23, and 25-18. The Ladies continued to struggle on the attack, committing 26 errors as a team. DeLeon tallied 10 of her 27 kills against the Terriers to lead the Ladies, followed by Mary Jo Scott and Katie Goulder's six kills, each. Hannah Shank tallied 24 assists and McKenzie Mitchell had 15 digs.
The Terriers win came in large part with their success at the net, collecting 10.5 team blocks. Logan Brewer and Marissa Jay each had 10 kills and hit .600 and .350, respectively.
The Ladies' second match against Fredonia (9-5) yielded a much closer result, going the distance in a five-set affair. Kenyon had a 2-1 lead in the match, but it slipped away in the fourth when the Blue Devils fired back with a dominant 25-8 display to tie the match at two games each.
In the decisive fifth set, more than 15 points were necessary to decide a winner. Both teams battled back and forth in the race to win by two. Fredonia pulled away with consecutive points to take the set 21-19, and the match.
DeLeon posted 18 kills against the Blue Devils, good for her fourth straight 10-plus kill match and seventh overall in 11 games.
Mary Jo Scott recorded a season-high 17 kills on 62 attempts versus Fredonia. That total was the most kills in a single match for the senior since her career-high 21 kills in the 2012 season opener against Howard Payne University. She also added 16 digs to complete the double-double effort.
Mitchell posted 27 digs while Shank tossed up 40 assists in the nightcap.
Kenyon will retake the hardwood at Otterbein College on Wednesday, Sept. 25 with a 7 p.m. first service. The conference slate will resume when the Ladies host Wittenberg University on Oct. 1 at Tomsich Arena.
