GAMBIER, Ohio – Kenyon College won a pair of matches in straight sets against Olivet College and Franklin College on Saturday as they wrapped up their Invitational at the Kenyon Athletic Center. The team's 10-3 start is its best record through 13 games to start the season since the 1988 and 1989 squads opened 11-2.
 
MATCH ONE
 
A few early runs in each set helped the Ladies win over the Comets to start the morning.
 
Leading the way for Kenyon was Delaney Swanson who had 12 kills. Alexi Donnelly added nine and five digs while Maleah Miller had eight kills on 15 errorless swings. Setter Jensen Shurbert added 33 assists and led the team with nine digs.
 
In the first trailing 2-0, Kenyon went on a 6-0 spurt with a couple of kills and a few errors from Olivet to take a 6-2 lead. Later, Kenyon went up its biggest margin of seven (15-8) following Bruzzio's kill. The closest Olivet get the rest of the way was four points as the Ladies sealed set one with kills from Bruzzio and Donnelly and an error.
 
Set two was all Kenyon as they raced out to a 12-4 lead following another error from the Comets. Olivet got two within four (23-19), but kills from Miller and Swanson ended any comeback attempt.
 
A Rachael Thorson service ace gave the Ladies a 7-3 advantage in the third and final set. Kenyon began to pull away later using an 8-2 stretch capped off by kills from Grace Riley and Swanson bringing the score to 24-13. They prevailed 25-16.
 
MATCH TWO
 
Franklin gave Kenyon all it could handle in the first set before the Ladies dominated in the final two.
 
Bruzzio led Kenyon with 12 kills while Schulyer Stupica was nearly unstoppable from the middle as she had nine kills on a blistering .538 attack percentage. Donnelly contributed eight kills and 11 digs while Shurbert added 33 assists for the second straight match and recorded a team-high 14 digs.
 
In the opening set, the Grizzlied attained a 14-10 lead following a kill from Sydney Stuckwisch. But the Ladies responded. An 8-1 run highlighted by three service aces and two kills from Bruzzio gave the team from Gambier an 18-15 lead. Kenyon never lost the lead after that and won 25-19.
 
During the second set, Kenyon cruised to a 14-2 lead which resulted in a Franklin timeout. During that huge stretch, Donnelly had three kills while Bruzzio added two and Ashley Martens recorded a few aces. Kenyon eventually won 25-10. The Ladies' defense held the Grizzlies to just two kills in the set.
 
Next up for Kenyon is a quick trip to face Mount Vernon Nazarene University on September 20 at 7 p.m.