GAMBIER, Ohio -- Gambier, Ohio hosted a busy day of volleyball on Saturday as Kenyon College welcomed the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg (1-13) and Franciscan University (7-2) for a tri-match in Tomsich Arena. The Owls opened the day with a sweep over the Pitt.-Greensburg Bobcats before the Franciscan Lady Barons posted back-to-back wins to end the day.

The Owls, playing multiple games on the same day for the penultimate time this season, picked up their season's sixth win to start the day and hold a 6-10 overall record after splitting their two matches. Kenyon had to come out ready for a battle as both the Owls and Bobcats looked sharp in the day's first set, but the home team went ahead early with a 25-23 set-one victory. The Owls increased their margins of victory in each of the two subsequent sets, posting wins of 25-21 and 25-18 to sweep Pitt.-Greensburg.

Sophia Menke had a monster match for the Owls, scoring a season-high 12.5 points after posting a career-best 12 kills. The sophomore hit a scorching .579, another season-best, that paced the Owls and marked a match-high for all players with more than two attacks. Menke's efficient outing helped the Owls outhit the Bobcats .207 to .144 over three sets. 

Maggie Wolf set up most of Menke's attacks, finishing with a match-leading 31 assists. The junior notched a double-double with 12 digs, and she chipped in five points. Aura Barinas was the other Owls to reach double-digit kills for Kenyon, finishing with 11.5 points and 10 kills. Defensively, Olivia Gumz led Kenyon with a match-high 13 digs, and she added seven kills, one behind Mariyah Rumpca-Veronese's eight.

The Owls had a break between action as the day's second match saw Franciscan finish off Pitt.Greensburg 3-0. The Lady Barons carried that momentum into their matchup against the Owls, hitting .263 and taking an early edge with a 25-19 win in the opening set.

However, the home team bounced back to post its biggest win of the day, a 25-13 victory that tied the match at 1-1. Kenyon hit .219 while holding Franciscan to a negative-.059 mark and the Owls benefitted from a 4-1 advantage in blocks.

Unfortunately for the Owls, the Lady Barons bounced back with their most efficient offensive set of the match. The visitors hit .333 over a 25-18 victory that pulled Franciscan within one set of a 2-0 day.

Kenyon kept fighting though, and the home team came out strong to start the must-win fourth set. The Owls jumped out to a 9-4 lead that forced a Franciscan timeout after a 5-1 run, and Kenyon kept rolling, building the lead to 15-8 as the Owls pushed for a fifth set.

The tides turned at that point, however, as Franciscan completely flipped the script with 12 unanswered points. Mary Jean Cadman accounted for four of Franciscan's six kills over the game-changing run, finishing with a match-high 17. The Owls stopped the stretch with a 3-1 spurt, but the visitors closed out the comeback victory with a 4-1 stretch that clinched the 3-1 win.

Wolf tied for the match lead with 27 assists and tied Barinas with an Owls-best 14 digs. Wolf also set a career-high with seven total blocks as both she and Menke had seven block assists. Gumz paced the Owls with 10 kills and 13 points, and Arianna Flota chipped in 12 digs.

Kenyon has one more match to go before starting its conference slate, a matchup against Otterbein University (8-5) on Thursday, September 26. The contest, which starts at 7 p.m., is the third of a four-match homestand in Tomsich Arena.