Skip To Main Content

Kenyon College Athletics

Mariyah Rumpca-Veronese
Isoo OBrien
3
Winner Bluffton BLU 4-1,0-0 HCAC
2
Kenyon Kenyon 0-4,0-0 NCAC
Winner
Bluffton BLU
4-1,0-0 HCAC
3
Final
2
Kenyon Kenyon
0-4,0-0 NCAC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Bluffton BLU 25 23 23 25 15 (3)
Kenyon Kenyon 20 25 25 19 7 (2)

Game Recap: Volleyball |

Owls get close, but Beavers battle back

GAMBIER, Ohio – After a jam-packed weekend of three road games, the Kenyon College volleyball team returned to Tomsich Arena for the 2024 home opener, taking on the Bluffton University Beavers. 

The Owls picked up back-to-back wins in the second and third sets to take a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth, but in each of the final sets, the Beavers were able to get ahead early and keep their lead, taking the final pair and ultimately the match 3-2. 

First-year Mariyah Rumpca-Veronese paced Kenyon's attack, leading the team in kills (18) and points (18.5). Early in set one, she picked up a nice kill assisted by Sophia Menke to give the Owls a 4-2 lead. 

From there, the Beavers picked up their pace, hitting an impressive .294 percent while the Owls' attack quieted. Aura Barinas, second on the team in kills a year ago, fired a cross-court spike to even the score at 19, but a 6-1 run for the visitors left Kenyon still looking for its first set win of the season 25-20. 

It didn't take long for the Owls to respond, taking a 5-2 lead by way of kills from Rumpca-Veronese and Olivia Gumz. Again Kenyon struggled to maintain its lead in the middle points, eventually trailing 19-16, but the Owls charged to a 9-5 run to tie the match at one and had their best hitting percentage of the night (.297). 

Kenyon backed up its first set win of the season with its second-best hitting percentage of the match, firing a .250 mark. In the third it was Bluffton's turn to go up early, reaching a 7-2 lead, but the Owls kept fighting and relied on five kills from Gumz and four from Rumpca-Veronese to tie the third set at 19. Two timely kills from Barinas and an ace from Lauren Blakemore, one of her game-high four, helped fuel the 7-4 run needed to take the third set 25-23 and go ahead in the match 2-1. 

After two great sets to take the lead, the Kenyon attack began to fade. In the fourth, the Owls stumbled to a .054 hitting percentage and had nine attack errors. That mark coupled with the Beavers' 6-1 blocking mismatch caused the fourth set to slip away 25-19. 

More of the same ensued in the fifth and final set, where Kenyon had a .080 hitting percentage while committing three attack errors and failing to register any blocks. Bluffton racked up a .320 hitting percentage in the fifth while recording zero attack errors and three blocks to secure the set 15-7 and the match 3-2. 

Hannah Schwemm dished out 44 assists to lead the Owls, while defensively, Menke and Becca Gwynne added 1.5 blocks each. 

The loss drops Kenyon's record to 0-4 on the 2024 season. The Owls will hit the road for Erie, Pennsylvania this weekend to take part in the Behrend Invite. The first of four games will begin on Friday, September 6, at 3:00 pm against Fredonia. 

 
Print Friendly Version