GAMBIER, Ohio – No. 6 (AVCA) Wittenberg University (18-2, 6-0 NCAC) was surprised early by the Kenyon College Ladies but later settled down to win in straight sets in a North Coast Athletic Conference volleyball match at Tomsich Arena. The Tigers won by scores of 25-21, 25-9 and 25-15.

Down 20-12 in the opening set, the Ladies stormed back with a 7-0 run and brought the Tigers' lead to 20-19. Schuyler Stupica began the stretch with back-to-back kills. The next few points included a trio of blocks from Stupica, Alexi Donnelly and Jensen Shurbert while Wittenberg had three attack errors.

Kenyon (9-11, 0-6 NCAC) pulled to within one point again (22-21) after a Shurbert kill, but after that, the Tigers reeled off three straight points and ended the first set with a block assist from Bryanna Jay and Kennedey Schmidt.

Following the highly-competitive first set, the Tigers showed their strength for the remainder of the match.

Wittenberg opened set two with a massive 10-0 run which was aided by a trio of Ladies errors. Kara Seidenstricker and Courtney Huck also added a kill each during the stretch. The closest Kenyon got was following a Tiger service error at the 13-5 mark.

Set three started nearly exactly like the previous game as the sixth-ranked team in the nation jumped out to a 10-1 lead. Kenyon cut the deficit to seven (16-9) following a Delaney Swanson kill but Wittenberg responded to go up 20-10 after a Callan Swain ace. The Tigers led by as many as 13 points in the set.

Tierney McClure, Stupica and Swanson each had four kills to lead Kenyon. Defensively, Stupica totaled a match-high six blocks. Shurbert led the way with 16 assists.

Next up for Kenyon is another NCAC home contest against Allegheny College October 24 starting at 2 p.m.