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Kenyon College Athletics

Olivia Gumz
Isoo OBrien
1
Kenyon Kenyon 5-9,0-0 NCAC
3
Winner Franklin Frank 5-8,0-0 HCAC
Kenyon Kenyon
5-9,0-0 NCAC
1
Final
3
Franklin Frank
5-8,0-0 HCAC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Kenyon Kenyon 21 14 25 23 (1)
Franklin Frank 25 25 17 25 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball |

Owls get a late surge, but Grizzlies prevail

FRANKLIN, Ind. -- The Kenyon College volleyball team avoided being swept in three sets Thursday, but got edged in the fourth set, as the host Franklin College Grizzlies went on to 25-21, 25-24, 17-25, 25-23 non-conference victory in the Spurlock Center.

After dropping the first two sets, the Owls started to find a groove in the third. A pair of kills from both Mariyah Rumpca-Veronese and Olivia Gumz helped push the Kenyon team out to an early 7-5 lead. Franklin responded with six straight points, but Kenyon did not break.

Later in the third set, two more kills from Gumz, paired with two aces, powered an 8-2 Kenyon run that put the Owls in front, 17-15. Franklin picked up just two more points after that and Kenyon rattled off six straight to close out the set. 

Throughout that third set, Kenyon had a dozen kills and four aces. Five kills and one ace came from Gumz, while Aura Barinas added three kills and Juliette Tomamichel served up two aces.

A bit rattled, the Grizzlies stumbled at the start of the fourth set, making four errors and yielding a 5-2 Kenyon lead. The home team regrouped, though, caught Kenyon at 6-6 and again at 7-7 before moving ahead 9-7. Later, a Rumpca-Veronese kill knotted the game at 10-10 and the two teams were never separated by more than two points the rest of the way.

Near the fourth-set finish, Kenyon held a 22-20 edge, but the Grizzlies retaliated with four straight points. Kenyon then got one more kill from Rumpca-Veronese, who had three in the set, but Franklin tallied the last point and escaped with the win.

Overall, Gumz logged one of her better games for the Owls. She wound up with a team-high 15 kills and a remarkable .500 hitting percentage. Barinas worked both rows well, racking up 11 kills in the front and 13 digs in the back. Lauren Blakemore led the squad with 22 digs, Maggie Wolf set up 31 assists, and Tomamichel finished with five aces.

The Owls (5-9) had a hard time stopping the Franklin (5-8) tandem of Kaitlyn Lavy and McKenzie Schroeder. Those two combined for 34 of the team's 54 kills. Lavy led the way with a match-high 23.

The Owls now return home and will host a Saturday tri-match with Franciscan University and University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.

 
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