WOOSTER, Ohio -- Playing Friday, the first day of the two-day NCAC-MIAA Crossover, the Kenyon College Owls volleyball team came up on the short end of 3-1 decisions to The University of Olivet and to Alma College in neutral-site matches at The College of Wooster. 

Kenyon opened with Olivet and, from the start, kept things close. The Comets, however, used an 8-1 run to take set one by a five-point margin and then kept pouring it on in set two, taking a 7-1 early lead. Kenyon, however, did not back down. The Owls scored five straight points and carried the momentum to the end of the set, when kills from Bryn Carrigan, Becca Gwynne, Lindsey Abramson and Olivia Gumz led to a 29-27 win.

Olivet turned things around late in the third set, winning seven of the last nine points to post a 25-17 win. Likewise, Kenyon came alive late in the fourth set, winning seven of nine points to take a 23-22 lead. The Comets, though, put down three kills and benefited from two Kenyon errors to take the set, 27-25, and the match.

Both Gumz and Abramson had a team-high nine kills against Olivet, while Carrigan, Gwynne and Sophia Menke all had seven, giving Kenyon a season-high 50 kills for the match.

The contest against Alma was very similar. The Scots won the first set, Kenyon won the second and then Alma took the next two to finish off the day with a 25-20, 17-25, 25-18, 25-16 match victory.

The Scots raced out to a 10-5 lead in the first set. Kenyon charged back to get within two points, at 11-9, but that was as close as the Owls would get the rest of the set.

In the second set, Kenyon took command by putting together eight straight points and taking a 10-4 lead. Abramson and Gumz had kills in the run, while Hannah Schwemm fired off a pair of service aces. The Scots answered with nine straight points, but Kenyon righted the ship by recording the set's final seven points.
In the third and fourth sets, Alma established early leads and never looked back.

Kenyon, which slid to 2-5 following the two defeats, got a team-high 11 kills from Gwynne and another 10 kills from Carrigan. In the two matches combined Maggie Wolf amassed 37 assists, while Schwemm piled up 27. Lauren Blakemore led Kenyon with a combined 24 digs and Schwemm added 17.

The Owls have one more match in the NCAC-MIAA Crossover and that will take place Saturday at noon. Their opponent will be St. Mary's College.