WESTERVILLE, Ohio – A quick bus ride to nearby Otterbein University produced some outstanding results for the Kenyon Ladies volleyball team on Friday. Kenyon swept both Ohio Christian University and Otterbein to improve to 3-0 on the season. The Ladies will play one more match as a part of the Invitational tomorrow at Capital University in a neutral site match against Case Western Reserve University.
 
To start the day, the Ladies crushed Ohio Christian. Kenyon's offense was superb hitting .358 while committing just nine errors on 81 total attacks. Delaney Swanson led the team with 14 kills and Jensen Shurbert handed out 25 assists and tacked on 11 digs. Rachael Thorson also registered 11 digs on defense.
 
On the flip side, the Ladies' defense didn't have too much trouble defending against the Trailblazers' attack as OCU hit a lowly -.048.
 
A quick 5-0 spurt in the opening set got the Ladies going en route to a 25-8 victory.  Ohio Christian couldn't keep pace with Kenyon who saw their lead balloon over the course of the set. Swanson totaled as many kills as the Trailblazers scored in the first.
 
Kenyon was down 2-1 early in set two before going on a 13-2 run to seize control. Alexi Donnelly had a pair of aces and a kill while Grace Riley added two kills of her own to help the Ladies go up 14-4. Kenyon kept things rolling before capturing the set 25-8 on a Haley Witschey kill.
 
The final set was a little tighter as the score was 5-5 after a Ladies attack error. But after that, Kenyon reeled off six straight points with Alexandra Hansen ending the run with a kill. Ohio Christian never rebounded after that.
 
Match two against the Cardinals turned out to be a little closer but it wasn't enough to stop Kenyon.
 
In the first set, competition was close early as the Ladies had at least a two to three-point lead over Otterbein before pulling away. With a 7-4 advantage, Kenyon started increasing its lead and got ahead by double digits for the first time (20-10) after a Maleah Miller kill. Miller then closed the set with an ace.
 
An attack error from Otterbein in set two gave the Ladies a 17-12 lead before the home team rebounded to make things interesting. A 5-1 Cardinals run brought the count to 18-17 after a Kenyon error, but that's the closest they got as Donnelly and Swanson closed the deal with two kills at the end.
 
Trying to force the match longer, Otterbein gained a 13-12 lead in set three after a kill by Olivia Harris. But staying true to form so far this young season, Kenyon went on a game-clinching run. This time, the Ladies scored eight straight points capped off by a Miller kill. The Cardinals never recovered after that as Kenyon won 25-18.
 
Swanson had a match-high 15 kills while Bruzzio added 10 and four service aces. Shurbert totaled 30 assists while three other players, Donnelly, Thorson and Swanson, had at least 11 digs.