GAMBIER, Ohio – Delaney Swanson came up with the second-highest single-game kills total (31) and Jensen Shurbert had the third-highest assist total (63) in Kenyon history but the Ladies fell in five sets to rival Denison University on Saturday in a North Coast Athletic Conference match at Tomsich Arena.
 
After falling behind 2-1 in the match, Kenyon rallied to force a fifth set and even had a 9-5 lead before the Big Red came away with the win.
 
Alexi Donnelly and Mackenzie Bruzzio added 16 and 12 kills, respectively, while Ashley Martens rang up a career-best 18 digs. Shurbert added 16 more digs as well.
 
The first set had a 20-20 tie before a Swanson kill gave the Ladies a lead they never relinquished. Kenyon went on to take the opening stanza 25-21.
 
Denison, trailing 16-13 in set two, came back with a 4-0 run which was capped off by an Isabella Pivec kill.  Kenyon tied it at 17 on the next sequence but the Big Red got kills on the next two possessions and never lost the lead after that winning set two 25-21.
 
In the third, the Ladies trailed 15-13 after a Denison service error, but the Big Red responded with three consecutive points which ended with a Rachele Lock kill. Like the second set, the visitors never lost the lead after that small run.
 
Needing to capture the fourth set to stay alive, the Ladies did just that. With the set tied at 3, Kenyon got four points including kills from Donnelly and Swanson. Later, the Ladies hit a 5-0 stretch to go up 19-13. They later prevailed 25-18.
 
The momentum from the fourth carried over the fifth for Kenyon. Another Swanson kill gave the Ladies a 9-5 lead and a kill from Bruzzio had the Ladies up 12-9, but Denison was able to sink the Ladies hearts in the end. Lock served the next six Big Red points and Denison completed the comeback with a kill from Leah Reinfranck.