HANOVER, Ind. -- Wrapping up competition in the two-day Hanover College Invitational, the Kenyon College Owls found themselves in a pair of matches that needed a fifth and deciding set. Unfortunately for Kenyon, neither of those fifth sets went its way and the Owls dropped back-to-back 3-2 decisions to Adrian College and Westminster (MO) College.

Against Adrian, Kenyon captured two of the first three sets, but eventually fell 14-25, 25-11, 14-25, 25-13, 15-10. The next match was even closer, but it was Westminster that escaped with a 25-22, 21-25, 21-25, 25-28, 16-14 victory.  

In the first match, against Adrian, senior Macy Reimbold led the Owls attack. She had 14 kills in 52 attempts. Lindsey Abramson added 11 kills in 42 attempts, while a trio of first-years added another 21 kills. That trio consisted of Kathryn McCaffrey, Aura Barinas, and Rebecca Gwynne.

The Owls capitalized on Adrian errors in the first set. Holding a 13-11 lead, Kenyon saw Lauren Blakemore record two aces that were surrounded by four Adrian errors. The six straight points opened up plenty of room for Kenyon, which got kills from McCaffrey and Reimbold to secure the set.

The Owls' third-set win was similar. Tied at 6-6, Kenyon broke off a 7-1 run that led to a 13-7 cushion. During the run, Reimbold had two kills, Abramson had one and Gwynne also had one. Adrian never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

With Kenyon winning the odd sets and Adrian the even sets, a fifth set was necessary. The Owls opened it with a 4-2 lead, but Adrian scored six of the next seven points to set up the match victory. Kenyon pulled within two points twice, but could get no closer.

Against Westminster, the Owl dropped the first set and then came back to win the next two. Westminster stormed back to take the third set by seven points and then held on in the fifth set, winning by the minimum two points.

Reimbold tacked on another 17 kills in that match, while Paige Milhon tallied 13 kills and a healthy total of nine blocks. Jac Cousineau piled up 36 assists across both matches, while Ellie Luciani chalked up 48 digs. Barinas added 37 digs to go along with her 19 kills on the day.

Kenyon, now 1-8, returns home for its next match, which will be against Otterbein University on Wednesday at 7 p.m.