GAMBIER, Ohio -- The Kenyon College Owls played three tight sets, but the Denison University Big Red defeated the Gambier locals at home on Wednesday evening. While Kenyon had significant leads in the final two sets, they could not stave off Denison's comebacks. The loss dropped the Owls' record to 3-15 on the season and 1-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC).

The Owls had a slow start in the first set, falling behind 7-2. However, they began to chip away at that deficit, rattling off five straight points with the help of two kills from Eras Yager to even the score at 7-7. The two sides traded points until it was 9-9, but the Big Red went on a five-point run and never looked back. Denison never let Kenyon get closer than two points the rest of the way and took the first set 25-19. A key factor helping the Big Red was better serving, recording four aces to the Owls' zero. Kenyon, in turn, had four service errors, which proved costly.

Kenyon started much stronger in the second set, with the Owls taking an early 10-2 with the help of a litany of Denison errors and a couple of big kills by Rebecca Gwynne. However, Denison began to string together some points, bringing the score to 13-11 and keeping it close, albeit still trailing. After a Kathryn McCaffrey kill put the Owls up 22-20, it felt like the set would be safe.

The Big Red, however, had other ideas, knotting the game at 22 apiece. Another kill from Gwynne put the Owls back up 23-22, but the Big Red clawed back to tie it, scoring another off a Gwynne attack error to go up 24-23. Kenyon took a time out to gear up for a set point, but Denison scored on a kill from Sophie Tight to win the set 25-23, taking a two-sets-to-none lead. Denison was the far more aggressive team for the set, with 13 more attack attempts and eight more kills than Kenyon.

The Owls had another quick start in the third set, quickly going up 6-2, but the Big Red did not waste any time getting back into the contest. Denison tied things up at 7-7 and began trading points with Kenyon until they built a two-point lead at 12-10. With that cushion, the Big Red never looked back, piling onto their lead without relinquishing it to take the set 25-21. While Kenyon only had one attack error the whole set, Denison's aggression paid off. The Big Red recorded 18 kills, double that of Kenyon while committing seven attack errors of their own.

Yager led the Owls with seven kills. She also only committed one attack error, giving her an outstanding hitting percentage of .375 for the match. Jac Cousineau had a team-high 12 assists, while Maggie Wolf chipped in eight. Elizabeth Sonza led the team with eleven digs, while Paige Milhon added five block assists.

The Owls have their next game at home on Saturday, Oct. 15, against No. 11-ranked Wittenberg University (15-3, 3-0 NCAC). The game will start at 4:30 p.m. in Tomsich Arena.