Owls to take on OWU in NCAC Tournament play

11/11/2025 11:30:00 AM

GAMBIER, Ohio -- Back in postseason play for the first time since the 2022 season, the Kenyon College Owls will travel to Ohio Wesleyan University tonight to take on the Battling Bishops in the quarterfinal round of the six-team North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Volleyball Tournament.

Kenyon (6-19, 2-5 NCAC) enters the tournament as the No. 6-seeded team, while Ohio Wesleyan (14-13, 5-2 NCAC) earned the No. 3 seed. The winner of the match will move on to the semifinals to face No. 2-seeded John Carroll University. That semifinal match will be held at top-seeded Wittenberg University. The host Tigers await the winner of tonight's other NCAC quarterfinal between No. 4-seeded Denison University and No. 5-seeded DePauw University.

Earlier this year, Ohio Wesleyan registered a 3-0 win over the Owls in a match held at Tomsich Arena in Gambier. Tonight's match might look a bit different, however, considering Kenyon was without two key pieces in that match and had to play some players out of their normal positions. Junior Olivia Gumz wound up leading Kenyon with six kills in that match, and senior Aura Barinas followed with five kills. Junior Hannah Schwemm added team-highs of 11 digs and 20 assists.

Missing from action for Kenyon in that regular-season contest was sophomore Mariyah Rumpca-Veronese, who leads Kenyon in kills (208) and aces (31). Also not playing in that game was junior Sophia Menke, who has 71 kills and 26 blocks in 17 matches played.

The Battling Bishops are led by junior Natalie Dieball, who owns team-high marks of 272 kills and 36 aces. Against Kenyon earlier in the season, Dieball was held to just five kills on 22 swings. Jordanne Shannon ended up leading the way for Ohio Wesleyan with seven kills, while Abby Nulph added six.

Kenyon and Ohio Wesleyan have faced off 10 times since the 2018 season and Ohio Wesleyan holds a 7-3 record in those matches. Three of those 10 matches were in NCAC Tournament play and Kenyon won two of them—a first-round match in 2018 and then a second-round match in 2019. Ohio Wesleyan won the last postseason match between the two, which was a second-round contest in 2022.

Tonight's match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start in Ohio Wesleyan's Branch Rickey Arena. As mandated by the NCAC, ticket prices will be $7 for adults, $3 for children (18 and under), and $3 for students without an NCAC institution ID. Students with an NCAC institution ID will be admitted free of charge.

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