GAMBIER, Ohio – Kenyon College right-side hitter Haley Witschey was the team's most potent offensive weapon on Saturday as the Ladies fell to Mount Vernon Nazarene University and defeated Capital University inside Tomsich Arena. After falling 3-0 to the Cougars, Kenyon came back to earn a 3-0 win over the Crusaders.
 
MATCH ONE
 
In each of the first two sets, Mount Vernon Nazarene played mostly behind Kenyon.
 
About midway through the first set, three straight attack errors pushed Kenyon ahead 12-7. Senior Ashley Martens moved Kenyon to a 17-13 advantage with a service ace before MVNU started chipping away. A 5-1 run capped off by Casey Bunner's kill tied the set at 18-18.  Later, Jensen Shurbert tied the set at 25, but kills from Kristen Osborn and Bunner allowed the visitors to win.
 
Set two was much of the same. A block assist from Delaney Swanson and Maleah Miller put the Ladies up 10-7. Swanson followed that up a little later with a kill and ace to move Kenyon up three again (14-11). Down by two, MVNU hit a 4-0 run with Osborn connecting on a pair of kills to go ahead 18-16. Kenyon took one more lead on a Miller kill (20-19), but the Cougars closed the stanza with six straight points.
 
In the third, Mount Vernon Nazarene raced out to a 9-3 lead following a Bunner solo block. The Ladies shook off the slow start, though, and rallied back to tie the set 11-11 after a Swanson kill. That momentum didn't carry over, however, as MVNU scored five in a row to go up 16-11.
 
Kenyon once again battled back, shielding off four straight set points. They got to within two, 24-22, after a block assist from Swanson and Miller, but the Cougars got a kill from Alyson Near to win.
 
MATCH TWO
 
The Ladies were very efficient on both sides of the floor against Capital as they won in straight sets giving head coach Amanda Krampf her 50th career victory for the Ladies. Kenyon hit well offensively with a .305 attack percentage, the second-highest total this season. Defensively the Ladies were solid as they held the Crusaders to an attack percentage of .164.
 
Witschey and Swanson led the way for Kenyon as they each tallied a team-high 12 kills. For Witschey, she was outstanding on the offensive end hitting .500 on 24 attempts with no errors.
 
First-set action was very close before a big 7-0 run helped the Ladies seize control. Down 13-12, four Capital attack errors sparked Kenyon to a 19-13 lead. The Crusaders never pulled close after that as Shurbert ended the set with an ace.
 
A 5-0 spurt to start set two got Kenyon moving in the right direction. Later, the Crusaders pulled to within one (9-8), after a kill by Carlie Wilson. That was no bother to the Ladies. They went back up 15-8 after Schuyler Stupica and Shurbert combined for a block. Witschey later put her team up double-digits, 20-10 with a kill. Kenyon would win 25-14 by the end.
 
In the third, the Ladies rallied back to win in straight sets.
 
The score was 16-11 Capital after a bad set from the Ladies. Just a bit later, an attack error from Capital's Kirsten Jutte tied things up at 17-17. The remainder of the third went back and forth. Capital was up 24-22 following a Graysan Braun kill, but the Ladies did not fold scoring the next two on a kill from Stupica and an error.
 
Down again, 26-25, the Ladies closed the deal with three straight points. Witschey's 12th kill of the match tied the set at 26 and an ace from Martens and kill from Shurbert capped off the victory.
 
Next on the schedule for Kenyon is a North Coast Athletic Conference date with Oberlin College on October 6 at 7:00 p.m. at Tomsich Arena.