SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Kenyon College volleyball team earned victories over The College of Wooster and Ohio Wesleyan University in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday night at Wittenberg University.
 
The Ladies (9-19) move on to face second-seeded Denison University tomorrow at 11 a.m.
 
In Kenyon's first-round match against Wooster, the Ladies were down 2-1 before a convincing rally helped the squad advance into the quarterfinal round.
 
The first two sets between the Fighting Scots and Ladies were split before Wooster claimed a 25-18 third-set victory. Maya Sapsford's ace had Kenyon leading 4-3, but a 6-0 run with three Ladies errors and two kills from Hayley Nash moved the sixth-seeded Scots in front for good. The closest the Ladies got was 10-7 following back-to-back kills from Lauren LImbach.
 
With Wooster a set away from victory, Kenyon responded in a big way. Sixteen of the first 19 points in set four went the seventh-seeded Ladies way. Mackenzie Bruzzio, who was named All-NCAC Second Team leading up to the match, had multiple kills while fellow senior Haley Witschey added a couple block assists. Additionally, Katie Howard and Maleah Miller had aces.
 
The Ladies rolled to a 25-7 set-four win, hit an electric .450 and held Wooster to a -.107 attack percentage.
 
That momentum carried over to the fifth set. Miller, an All-NCAC Honorable Mention selection this season, started the match-deciding set with a kill and two aces. Wooster pulled to within two, 8-6, before the Ladies hit a 6-1 stretch to amass an insurmountable lead. Miller had three kills in the run as Kenyon earned a 15-8 victory.
 
Against Ohio Wesleyan, Kenyon secured victories in the second through fourth sets to advance.
 
OWU won the first stanza 25-15 as it held the Ladies to n .026 hitting mark. Kenyon, though, shook that off and got in gear. In the second, competition was tight until a late surge by the Ladies. With the score knotted at 18-18, OWU committed three errors while Miller tallied a kill to push Kenyon in front, 22-18. That proved to be the difference as the Ladies prevailed 25-21.
 
In the third, Ohio Wesleyan's Meghan Schwallie's ace had the third-seeded Bishops up 12-10. That forced a timeout from Coach Kendra Mosher and out of the break, the Ladies scored five of the next six points with kills from Bruzzio, Limbach, Miller and Elyse Davidson. Kenyon never lost the lead after that and won 25-16.
 
The Ladies closed things down in another highly-competitive fourth set. OWU held a 7-3 advantage following Paige Hale's kill. Another timeout from the Kenyon coaching staff was called and once more, the Ladies responded. Limbach's kill ended a 6-1 stretch for the Ladies and gave them a 9-8 lead. The scoreboard remained tight the rest of the way. Until, again, another late surge by Kenyon. With the score tied at 18, the Ladies tallied five of the next six points to go up 23-19 after an OWU error. A couple sequences later, Bruzzio ended the match with her team-best 13th kill.