Box Score UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – The Kenyon College volleyball team opened play Friday night in the two-day John Carroll University Invitational by dropping a four-set match to the Case Western Reserve University Spartans. Case won the first two sets, Kenyon battled back in the third, but Case ran away with the fourth and a 25-22, 25-19, 22-25, 25-8 non-conference win.

Freshman Lauren Kerr continued to be a force on the front line for the Ladies (2-8). She threw down a team-high 13 kills and complemented them with one solo block and two assisted blocks. She now ranks second on the team with 72 kills this season and has, by far, the Ladies' best attack percentage (.329). Over the team's last four matches, Kerr has averaged nearly 10 kills.

Fellow freshman Jensen Shurbert racked up a team-high 23 assists and had 11 digs, while senior Hannah Shank dished out 16 assists and came up with 10 digs for the Ladies.

The Kenyon youth movement continued with freshman Tierney McClure smashing eight kills and posting a team-high 17 digs. Rachael Thorson, yet another freshman, added 16 more digs to the Ladies' total.

Kenyon led for most of the first set and even held a 20-16 lead. The Spartans, however, used three service aces from Robyn Marks and a couple of kills from Katie Best to score the final eight points of the set. Set two saw a lot more back-and-forth until the Spartans finished strongly again. This time around, they closed out the set by outscoring the Ladies 6-3 while moving a 19-16 score to a 25-19 win.

Roles reversed in set three. With the score tied 22-22, Kenyon charged to a three-point win by using one Case error and a couple of kills from Kerr and Amber Kraus.

In the fourth set, Case (7-3), ran out to an 8-0 lead and never let its foot of the gas.

Kenyon will return to Invitational action Saturday to take on College of Mount St. Joseph at 11 a.m. and then battle the host Blue Streaks at 1 p.m.