GAMBIER, Ohio -- The Kenyon College volleyball team heads to Springfield, Ohio, to take part in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday, Nov. 4. The No. 7-seeded Owls will take on The College of Wooster, the No. 6 seed, at 4 p.m. in the opening round of the single-elimination tournament. With a win in the opening round, Kenyon would advance to face No. 3-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University in the NCAC quarterfinal match at 7:30 p.m., also in Springfield on Friday night.

The Owls recently matched up against the Fighting Scots and Battling Bishops, as both opponents were amongst Kenyon's final three conference contests. On Oct. 19, Kenyon fell 3-1 on the road against Wooster before falling 3-0 at OWU on Oct. 25. Kenyon had a chance to jump up to the No. 5 seed in the tournament with a win over OWU, but the Owls had to settle for the No. 7 seed after finishing with the same 2-5 in-conference mark as Wooster, who held the head-to-head tiebreaker over Kenyon.

The all-time series between Kenyon and Wooster is one of the program's closest and most extensive. The teams have faced off 61 times since 1986, with Wooster winning 32 matches and Kenyon winning 29. The Owls had won four consecutive matchups from 2015-2018, but the Fighting Scots have claimed the last three contests. However, Kenyon has won each of the last three battles with Wooster in the NCAC Tournament, earning 3-0 sweeps in 2013 and 2016 before prevailing in a 3-2 battle in Springfield in 2019.

Kenyon's all-time mark against Ohio Wesleyan is similar across 53 matchups since 1986, but OWU holds a 29-24 edge. The Battling Bishops bested Kenyon in each of the last two seasons, but Kenyon ousted OWU in the NCAC Tournament in 2018 and 2019 by scores of 3-0 and 3-1, respectively.

The Owls finished the 2022 campaign with a 4-20 overall record and were 2-5 in NCAC matches. Kenyon's biggest win was a five-set thriller against DePauw University at home on Oct. 1. The Owls battled back from a first-set loss by winning the second and third sets, and the home team clinched the win with a 15-8 advantage in the fifth and final set. 

Wooster posted a 7-15 record and went 2-5 against NCAC foes, including their win over Kenyon. The Fighting Scots' other conference win was over Oberlin College, who Kenyon also bested. Ohio Wesleyan went 11-13 this year while notching a 5-2 mark in the NCAC. The Battling Bishops took down Hiram College, Oberlin, Wooster, DePauw, and Kenyon en route to the No. 3 seed in the NCAC Tournament.

No. 5-seeded Hiram (13-12, 3-4 NCAC) and No. 8-seeded Oberlin (7-15, 0-7 NCAC) will face off in the tournament's other opening-round match. Both first-round matches will be played at 4 p.m. in Springfield, Ohio. The winner of the Hiram-Oberlin contest will advance to take on DePauw at 7:30 p.m. in the other NCAC quarterfinal match. 

The Owls have tallied 840 kills, 9.4 per set, this season while hitting .127, while their opponents have hit .197, totaling 1137 kills (13 per set). Kenyon excels at blocking the ball, leading the NCAC with 163.5 blocks and 1.84 blocks per set. Senior middle Paige Milhon leads the conference with 1.09 blocks per set and has paced Kenyon with 88 total blocks. Teams will also have to contend with Kathryn McCaffrey (43 blocks, 0.66 per set), Eras Yager (41, 0.51 per set), Rebecca Gwynne (31, 0.57 per set), and Lindsey Abramson (28, 0.37 per set). McCaffrey and Milhon rank 10th and 12th, respectively, in the NCAC hitting percentage rankings with marks of .246 and .234. Senior Macy Reimbold ranks 10th in the conference in kills per set at 2.38. Defensively, first-year Elizabeth Sonza ranks fourth in the NCAC with 4.07 digs per set.

Wooster ranks last in the NCAC with a .119 hitting percentage, tallying 790 kills (10 per set). Conversely, their opponents notched 921 kills, 11.66 per set, and hit .167. Wooster's Hayley Nash ranked fourth in the NCAC with 2.97 kills per set, and Tyara Thompson contributed to those numbers with the NCAC's third-most assists per set at 7.72. Sydney Fitzcharles ranks second in the conference in service aces and digs per set, notching 0.49 and 4.47, respectively.

Ohio Wesleyan boasts the NCAC's second-best offense, ranking as the runner-up in hitting percentage (.198) and kills per set (12.09). The Battling Bishops are in the middle of the pack in opponent hitting percentage, allowing a .170 clip. OWU's Claire Solberg is second in the NCAC in hitting percentage at .350 and third in blocks per set (0.94). Melissa Murray (2.95), Eliza Richardson (2.79), and Kaitlyn Peters (2.59) rank fifth, sixth, and eighth, respectively, in kills per set in the NCAC. Lily Bechina dishes out the second-most assists per set in the NCAC with 9.42.

As mandated by the NCAC, tickets for tournament games are $7 for adults and $3 for children (18 years of age and under). One ticket is good for all matches on each day of the tournament, but separate tickets will be required for each day. Any NCAC student with a valid ID from their NCAC institution will be admitted free of charge.