WESTERVILLE, Ohio – For the second straight day, the Kenyon College volleyball team went 1-1 with a pair of Saturday matches against Otterbein University and Berea College (Ky.) The Ladies fell in three sets against the Cardinals before winning their final in straight sets over the Blue Crew.

Kenyon opened play Saturday, the final day of the Otterbein Tournament, with a match-up against a strong host. Otterbein prevailed in three sets, but the Ladies kept things competitive before bowing out on the short end of a 25-22, 25-20, 25-13 final score.

In the first set, both teams were battling back and forth before the Ladies gained an 11-7 lead after an Alexi Donnelly kill. Kenyon maintained that lead all the way until a service error tied the set at 16 apiece. After the error, the Ladies scored the next two points to regain the lead at 18-16. The Cardinals responded, however, going on a 6-1 run that was capped off by another Kenyon attack error. That gave the Cardinals a 22-19 lead and an eventual 25-22 victory.

Set two saw Kenyon fall behind 10-3 after Morgan Lowenkamp collected a kill. The Ladies responded though to cut the deficit to 15-12 after an error, but they wouldn't get any closer. Otterbein went back up eight (21-13) following a Kenyon attack error.

The third and final set wasn't as close as the previous two as the Cardinals stormed out to leads of 5-0 and then 16-6 following another kill by Lowenkamp.

Delaney Swanson led the Ladies with 11 kills and tied for the team-high with 12 digs, while Rachael Thorson added 12 digs of her own. Jensen Shurbert dished out 28 assists to lead the team.
Later in the day, Kenyon was able to bounce back against Berea, winning in three sets by scores of 25-18, 25-17 and 25-20.

Once again, Swanson led the Ladies in kills with 13 while Tierney McClure added 12. Defensively, Swanson added three blocks and collected 13 digs for another double-double this season. Thorson led the way in digs with 15 while Donnelly chipped in with eight.

Next up for Kenyon is a home date against Wilmington College on September 8. The match will start at 5 p.m.