CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Kenyon Ladies volleyball team was edged 3-2 by Bethany College before being swept by Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday afternoon at Case Western Reserve University's Spartans Invite. Kenyon fell to 1-2 on the season after the day's matches.
 
MATCH ONE
 
Kenyon and Bethany made it into a fifth set before the Bison rallied from an early 5-0 deficit to win the stanza and match.
 
Bethany started the competition strong, holding the Ladies to a .000 attack percentage in the first set while winning 25-14. During the set, a 10-2 run by the Bison, highlighted by five errors from Kenyon, broke a 9-9 tie and allowed Bethany to get too far ahead.
 
The Ladies responded with second- and third-set victories. Maleah Miller pushed the team lead to 20-17 before the Bison rallied to reclaim the lead, 23-22, after an ace from Madelaine Blanco. Kenyon didn't panic, though, and scored the next three points to tie the match at 1-1.
 
In the third, a block from Elyse Davidson and Lauren Limbach gave the Ladies a 10-7 lead. After that, Bethany never was able to tie the set and Kenyon eventually won 25-16. The third frame saw the Kenyon defense hold Bethany to a .115 attack percentage, its lowest of the match.
 
Down 2-1, the Bison came back to tie the match. The fourth set saw Bethany commit just five errors while hitting .282, its highest of the contest. Following a kill from Kenyon senior Mackenzie Bruzzio, bringing the scoreboard to 11-8, the Bison hit a 9-4 run to pull away.
 
Then in the fifth and final set, Kenyon looked to be in control. A 5-0 lead was generated highlighted by an ace from Miller, two kills from Bruzzio and another by Tara Ford. Later, Kenyon had a 10-4 advantage, however, the Ladies were not able to close out the match. Bethany's Jess Moore and Lindsey Llewellyn each tallied two kills apiece and the Bison rallied to win 15-12.
 
MATCH TWO
 
Carnegie Mellon's defense was pretty good against the Ladies' offense in the day's second match. The Tartans limited Kenyon to an attack percentage no higher than .167 in any of the three sets.
 
In the first set, Davidson's kill brought the tally to 3-2, CMU, but the Tartans followed with a 7-1 stretch to take a commanding 10-3 lead. Carnegie extended its advantage to double-digit a few times after that and prevailed 25-13.
 
Through about the first half of the second stanza, both teams were going back and forth. The Ladies were up 11-10 following Maya Sapsford's service ace. Later, Ford and Davidson teamed up for a block to push Kenyon's advantage to 16-13. Ford added a kill a bit later making the count 18-17, however, CMU closed strong. The Tartans reeled off an 8-0 run to win the set.
 
Competition was close again in the third before the Tartans closed the door. A kill by newcomer D.J. Taylor had the Ladies down 16-15, and on the ensuing serve, CMU notched an error tying the set. The miscue would be short-lived, though, as the Tartans scored the next four points to get in front for good.
 
Kenyon will try to get back to .500 when it hosts Bluffton University on September 3 at 7 p.m. at Tomsich Arena.