DECATUR, Ill. – Playing in the annual Linda Slagell Dig for the Cure event at Millikin University, the Kenyon College volleyball overcame a slow start Friday to salvage a split of two matches. The Ladies opened play in the afternoon with a 25-19, 25-20, 25-19 loss to Greenville College, but bounced back in the evening with a 17-25, 26-24, 21-25, 25-15, 15-11 win over Westminster College.

The split moved Kenyon's overall record to 14-6, just one more victory away from matching last season's final win total. The Ladies' opponents also sport impressive records. Greenville improved to 12-4 with its win over Kenyon, while Westminster slipped to 13-6 with the loss.

The Ladies had problems getting their attack together during the loss to Greenville. They managed just 29 kills over the three-set match and compounded the problem with 20 errors. The team's .081 attack percentage was its second-worst of the season. On the other side of the net, Greenville piled up 43 kills and just 11 errors for a .288 attack rate.

Kenyon got things turned around in its next match, throwing down 47 kills and bumping its attack percentage to .166 against Westminster. Sophomore Delaney Swanson led the charge with 18 kills and freshman Mackenzie Bruzzio followed up with 11. Alexi Donnelly, who had a team-high seven kills in the first match, added seven more in the second.

Defensively, Swanson and Rachael Thorson tied for the team lead with 19 digs in the second match and finished the day with totals of 26 and 34 digs, respectively. Junior setter Jensen Shurbert had 17 digs and 39 assists against Westminster. She also had 29 assists against Greenville, bringing her season total to 671 and her career total to 1,833 assists, which ranks fifth-best in program history.

Overall, Swanson had a total of 24 kills on the day. Bruzzio matched Donnelly's total of 14 and Schuyler Stupica led the way in the middle with six blocks.

The Ladies won't play again until next Saturday. That's when they'll head to Greencastle, Indiana for an important North Coast Athletic Conference contest against DePauw University. That match will be followed up by a neutral-site, non-conference contest with Alma College.