WOOSTER, Ohio -- The Kenyon College volleyball team dropped an up-and-down game on the road against The College of Wooster, falling 3-1 after each set ended with a 25-21 score. The Owls picked up a win in set two, but the loss moved Kenyon to a 3-17 record and a 1-4 mark in the North Coast Athletic Conference. For the Fighting Scots, it was their first NCAC victory as the team improved to 4-13 (1-5 NCAC).

Kenyon opened the match with a 5-3 lead in set one after a pair of Macy Reimbold kills sandwiched a Rebecca Gwynne ace, but the Fighting Scots rattled off a 9-1 run to double the Owls' score at 12-6. 

Wooster led by as many as seven at 23-16, but Kenyon battled back with a 5-1 run, staving off three set points and forcing a Wooster timeout. Kills from Paige Milhon, Reimbold, and Gwynne pulled the Owls within three at 24-21, but the Fighting Scots closed the door and clinched a 25-21 set-one win after the timeout, going up 1-0 in the match. 

The late outburst helped Kenyon finish with a .125 hitting percentage after hitting around .000 for much of the first set, but Wooster's .262 percentage with seven more kills (16-9) and three more aces (4-1) gave the home team the early edge.

The Owls responded in a big way to start set two, quickly going up 6-1. Reimbold had her fingerprints all over the hot start, notching three kills and an ace. Kenyon's hot start fizzled out after a Wooster kill and a string of three consecutive attacking errors by the Owls, who watched their lead shrink to 6-5.

The teams traded the following four points, but Kenyon did not relinquish its lead. Not letting Wooster take the momentum paid off as the Owls won five straight points and seven of the next eight, going ahead 15-8. Three Kenyon blocks highlighted the run and dropped Wooster to a .000 hitting percentage.

The teams traded blows before Kenyon extended the lead to 23-15, but Wooster would not go away, tallying five consecutive points behind three aces to force an Owls timeout at 23-20. Milhon made a kill to get Kenyon back on track, and the Owls held on to win 25-21 to tie the match 1-1.

Wooster took an 11-6 lead in set three, but a 5-0 Owls run tied the set at 11. However, Kenyon could not get ahead as the teams traded points until it was 21-18 in the Fighting Scots' favor. Eras Yager collected a kill to kick off a 3-0 Kenyon run, and a block from Yager and Milhon forced a Wooster timeout at 21-21.

Kenyon gave the momentum right back with a service error and two attacking errors, and the Owls needed a timeout as they faced a 24-21 deficit. Kenyon put up a fight with an extended set point, but the Fighting Scots put the point away with a kill, going up 2-1 in the match. Wooster hit .294 in the set with 14 kills and four errors, while Kenyon hit .125 with 11 kills and seven errors.

The back-and-forth match continued with Kenyon going up 6-2 in set four, but Wooster converted five straight kills to take a 7-6 edge. The Fighting Scots extended their run to 15-5, leading by six at 17-11, but the Owls got back into the set with five straight points and took a 19-18 lead with an 8-1 run. Milhon was a catalyst for the stretch, notching a kill and adding three block assists. Kenyon's comeback ran out of gas, with Wooster tallying four consecutive points and winning seven of the next nine to clinch the match with a 25-21 victory. 

It was a rollercoaster match, with both teams exchanging blows, and Wooster's hitting percentages exemplify the yo-yo sets. The Fighting Scots hit .167 overall but went .262, .027, .294, and .078 across the four sets. Conversely, the Owls hit .125, .119, .125, and .026, finishing with a .097 clip as a team. Wooster had a 12-5 edge in service aces, but the Fighting Scots negated their service advantage with 10 errors to Kenyon's three. The Owls were plus-eight in blocks (12-4), but Wooster's 56-38 advantage in kills was too much to overcome.

Reimbold, a senior, led Kenyon in kills and digs, notching a double-double with 15 and 19, respectively while hitting .115 and adding four block assists. Milhon, a senior, hit .233 with 10 kills and notched a match-high nine block assists. Senior Jac Cousineau and first-year Maggie Wolf dished out 16 and 12 assists, respectively, and first-year Elizabeth Sonza had 17 digs.

Kenyon's next match will be their last at home in Tomsich Arena and their penultimate NCAC contest. The Owls host Oberlin College (7-12, 0-5 NCAC) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22, and will celebrate Kenyon's Senior Day.