HANOVER, Ind. -- The Kenyon College volleyball team played a pair of back-to-back matches to begin their two-day stretch at the Hanover College Invitational, and the Owls finished Friday night with a 3-1 win over Blackburn College after Trine University took the first match with a matching 3-1 score.

Something had to give in Kenyon's opening match against Trine as the two squads entered the contest on winning streaks. The Owls made a strong case for a fifth straight victory, but the Thunder came out on top to extend their unbeaten, 8-0 start to the season. Kenyon bounced back against Blackburn College, returning to the win column while keeping the Beavers from adding their first tally. Blackburn fell to 0-8 after the loss, while the Owls ended the day with a 5-6 season-long mark.

Kenyon's offense was unable to post some of the efficient numbers that the Owls managed over their winning streak as they hit just .139 against Trine and .170 against Blackburn, but Kenyon still managed to tap into the grit the team has shown time and again this season. After starting the evening off on the wrong side of a 25-13 Trine win, the Owls answered with a 25-22 set-two victory and kept things close before ultimately falling in sets three and four. 

Against Blackburn, the Owls had to grind out a 25-21 first-set win before taking a tough 25-8 loss in the second set that knotted the match at 1-1. However, Kenyon mustered the energy and effort the squad showed over six straight five-set matches entering the day, and the Owls clinched another win after victories of 25-19 and 25-18 in the final two sets. After hitting negative .200 in that set-two letdown, Kenyon exploded to the finish by hitting .393 and .361 to close out the night.

Mariyah Rumpca-Veronese and Aura Barinas paced Kenyon's offense over the two matches as both outside hitters tallied double-digit kills in each end of the doubleheader. The pair tied with a dozen kills apiece against the Thunder before Rumpca-Veronese posted an 11-10 edge in kills against the Beavers. The duo also each notched a double-double against Blackburn, and Rumpca-Veronese's 12 digs doubled the first-year's previous season-high.

Lauren Blakemore tied for the team lead with 12 digs against the Beavers, and the junior recorded a match-high 20 digs against the Thunder, the second time she has surpassed 20 digs this season. Classmate Maggie Wolf worked as Kenyon's primary distributor across both matches, posting match-leading assist totals in both ends of the doubleheader. The team captain dished out 30 assists against Trine before posting a 33-assist, 10-dig double-double against Blackburn. Wolf also ranked second on the team with three block assists, trailing only Sophia Menke, who posted a match-high eight total blocks to tie her career-high.

After the late night, Kenyon will look to rest up before playing another doubleheader to close its time in Hanover, Indiana. The Owls open the day against Rhodes College (4-4) at noon before facing hosting Hanover College (9-0) at 2 p.m.