ADA, Ohio – The Kenyon College volleyball team got off to a great start Wednesday night and also got a combined 23 kills from Schuyler Stupica and Haley Witschey, but that still wasn't enough to power the Ladies past the No. 22-ranked Ohio Northern University Polar Bears, who rallied for a 21-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-22 non-conference win.

The loss dropped Kenyon, still playing without two of its top hitters, to 8-4. Ohio Northern, defending champion of the Ohio Athletic Conference, improved to 10-3 with the victory.

Even though the Ladies weren't at full strength, they hung with the Polar Bears long enough to steal the first set. Trailing 20-19, the Kenyon women got back-to-back kills from freshman Carly Uhlir and Witschey, a sophomore. That prompted an Ohio Northern timeout, but when the teams returned to the court, Kenyon tacked on a kill from Stupica, a junior, and another from Uhlir. The Polar Bears got one point back and then the Ladies finished off the set with one more kill from Witschey and an ace from Uhlir.

The result served as a wake-up call for Ohio Northern. The Polar Bears, who hit just .091 in that first set, peppered Kenyon with 21 kills and a .383 percentage in the second set. The Ladies didn't fade too far off the pace, though. In fact, they had a 17-16 lead after an Ashley Martens' ace. Ohio Northern then rattled off the next eight points to take command. Stupica had five kills in six attempts for the Ladies, while Haley Potter led Ohio Northern with eight kills in the set.

In the third set, the Polar Bears used a 7-1 run to push a two-point lead out to a 17-9 advantage. Kenyon would later close to within three points, but Ohio Northern scored six of the set's last seven points. McKenna Jordan accounted for nine of the Polar Bears' 20 kills in that third set.

The Ladies kept the fight up in the fourth set, too. They took early leads of 7-3 and 10-7. After that, the score ended up tied three times, including 20-20. Down the final stretch, the Ladies committed three attack errors, allowing enough room for the Polar Bears to get to the finish line.

Overall, Witschey had one of her best collegiate matches, racking up 13 kills and a .321 percentage. Since taking over a more prominent role, Witschey has 47 kills in the Ladies' last five matches.

Stupica finished with 10 kills, while Uhlir contributed seven kills and 14 digs. Senior setter Jensen Shurbert tallied 34 assists and 10 digs, while her classmate, Rachael Thorson, added six assists and a team-high 20 digs.