GAMBIER, Ohio – Through two sets on Wednesday night, the Kenyon College volleyball team absolutely throttled The College of Wooster in Tomsich Arena. But that momentum disappeared as the Fighting Scots won the third and fourth sets before Mackenzie Bruzzio helped the home team late in the fifth, pushing Kenyon's record to 16-9 and 5-3 in North Coast Athletic Conference play.
 
For the program, it is Kenyon's first winning season (5-3) in NCAC play since the 1996 squad attained the same mark.
 
In the first set, Kenyon rolled as they hit .400 while holding the visitors to a -.037 attack percentage. The Ladies opened with a 13-2 lead with Bruzzio totaling two kills and Rachael Thorson registering three aces. Kenyon later had a 20-4 advantage following a Jensen Shurbert kill and they prevailed 25-10.
 
Set two saw Wooster get to within three points (14-11) after a Ladies attack error.  But after that, Kenyon hit a 5-1 stretch and went up seven points (19-12) which was capped off by another Thorson ace. The final tally in the second was 25-15.
 
With how competition played out in the first two stanzas, Kenyon and the home crowd felt confident going into the third. But Wooster had other plans.


 
The Fighting Scots began to make their comeback and opened the third with an 11-1 lead following an attack error by Kenyon. Despite the extremely slow start, Kenyon found its groove and later tied the set at 13 after Delaney Swanson registered a kill. Wooster went back up though, 17-14, and later reeled off a 5-1 run to win 25-17.
 
Another big run to start the fourth, this time a 10-1 stretch from the Fighting Scots, helped them tie the match. Ksenia Klue later had a kill to put Wooster up 16-6 and after that, the Ladies never got to within seven points as the visitors claimed a 25-16 set-four victory.
 
The fifth and final set turned out to be fantastic.
 
Megan Mey's kill tied the set at 6 before back-to-back points from Kenyon put them up by two (8-6) forcing a Wooster timeout. That break worked for the Fighting Scots as they scored the next four points and went back in front 10-8. Down by two, Bruzzio registered her 15th kill and then took over the serve for the Ladies. She tied the set at 10 with an ace and later watched as Alexi Donnelly and Grace Riley got kills, while Wooster committed an error pushing Kenyon up 13-10. The home team never allowed Wooster to get back in it as they got a point off an error and watched as freshman Maleah Miller tallied a kill for the final point of the match.
 
Bruzzio led the team with 15 kills and added 18 digs. Donnelly registered a double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs while Shurbert handed out 46 assists. Thorson totaled six aces and led the team with 20 digs.
 
Kenyon will close its regular season this Saturday as they travel to face Defiance College and Franklin College starting at 3 p.m. in Franklin, Indiana.