NCAC TOURNAMENT SITE
GAMBIER, Ohio – Heading into the 2019 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) volleyball tournament as the No. 7-seeded team, the Kenyon College Ladies kick off postseason play Friday at 4 p.m. against the No. 6-seeded Fighting Scots from The College of Wooster.
The NCAC Tournament is an eight-team, two-day event with all matches taking place at Wittenberg University. The winner of the Kenyon (7-19 overall, 2-6 NCAC) and Wooster (12-15, 4-4 NCAC) first-round match will move on to play No. 3-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
The tournament's top two seeds, Wittenberg and Denison, have byes until Saturday's semifinal round, which will commence at 11 a.m. The tournament final will take place Saturday at 5 p.m.
Kenyon and Wooster met once this season and the Fighting Scots posted a 3-1 home win. In that match, the Ladies came out swinging and took the first set in convincing fashion. Their pace, however, did not hold, as Wooster rallied to complete the 18-25, 25-10, 25-23, 25-11 win.
Haley Witschey,
Elyse Davidson and
Maleah Miller each had six kills for Kenyon, while Wooster received 16 kills from Hayley Nash, 14 from Anna Medema, and 9 more from Katie Billetdeaux.
Over the last ten years, the matchup between these two teams has been pretty even. Wooster holds a slight 9-7 edge in wins during that span, but Kenyon was the winner in six of the last eight meetings, including five in a row before falling at Wooster a couple weeks ago.
Senior
Mackenzie Bruzzio, owner of career numbers that include 1,009 kills and 858 digs, leads the Ladies. She has a team-high 261 kills this season, ahead of Witschey (164), Miller (126) and Davidson (121). Miller tops the Ladies' chart for blocks with 51, while
Katie Howard has a team-best 301 digs. The Ladies have battled injuries on many fronts this season, including at setter, where freshman
Jac Cousineau has emerged with a team-best 285 assists.
Nash and Billetdeaux are Wooster's go-to hitters. Nash has 285 kills this season and Billetdeaux has 235. Billetdeaux also sports a team-high 46 blocks, while Sydney Fitzcharles leads the Fighting Scots with 446 digs and Meghan Botsch has a team-best 805 assists.
Friday's match will mark Kenyon's fifth straight appearance in the NCAC Tournament. The Ladies have won their first-round match in each of the last two seasons before bowing out in the second round. The previous two seasons, when the tournament was double-elimination, the Ladies lost their opening-round matches and then bounced back with a pair of wins.
Wooster is making its fourth straight showing in the conference tournament. The Fighting Scots won a first-round match last season before being defeated in the second round. The previous two seasons, they dropped first-round matches.
The NCAC will sell all-day tickets at the gate. Prices are $7 for adults and $3 for children (18 and under). NCAC students presenting their institution ID will be admitted free of charge. Please note that separate tickets will be required for each day of the tournament.
