BLUFFTON, Ohio – Off to one of the better starts in program history, the Kenyon College volleyball team ran its early-season record to 6-1 with a couple more wins in the first day of the two-day Bluffton University Sommer Center Spiketacular. Friday afternoon, the Ladies defeated Geneva College 25-15, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19 and then later upended Thomas More College 25-13, 25-22, 14-25, 25-19.

Perhaps the best indicator of just how much the Ladies have improved is looking at their Friday-night opponents' record from one season ago. Geneva was a squad that posted a 26-9 record in 2015. That mark included an 18-match win streak. Thomas More was even more impressive. In 2015, the Saints were 26-5. They won the Presidents' Athletic Conference championship and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Throughout the two match victories, sophomore outside hitter Delaney Swanson directed a Kenyon attack that racked up a total of 90 kills. Swanson was responsible for 39 of those kills, as she threw down 21 against Geneva and another 18 against Thomas More. On the day, Swanson averaged a healthy 4.9 kills per set, dialed up a .252 attack percentage and also logged a team-high 39 digs to go along with three service aces and a couple of blocks.

Kenyon's efforts against Geneva were also supported by nine kills from Schuyler Stupica and 16 digs each from Rachael Thorson and Alexi Donnelly. Jensen Shurbert contributed 37 assists and 11 digs.

Against Thomas More, the Ladies set up a block party. Maleah Miller stuffed three attacks, Swanson and Shurbert both stopped a pair and Mackenzie Bruzzio added one more. Thorson duplicated her 16 digs from the first match, while Donnelly came up with a dozen. Shurbert tacked on 40 more assists, giving her 207 for the season and 1,369 for her career, a total that now ranks seventh all-time in Kenyon history.

In the kills department, Donnelly notched nine, while Bruzzio smashed eight against the Saints.

The Ladies seemed to get better the more they played. After posting a .171 attack percentage against Geneva, they pushed that mark to .275 against Thomas More.

Saturday brings two more matches at Bluffton for the Kenyon women. They'll take on the host Beavers at noon and then battle at 2 p.m. against another perennial powerhouse in Ohio Northern University.