GRANVILLE, Ohio — In a back-and-forth senior day battle, the Denison women's volleyball played sound volleyball and defeated John Carroll 3-2, logging their second consecutive home win in the five-set thriller. The Big Red's conference win is their first of the season, as they improve to 6-12 overall and 1-2 in NCAC play.
The first set went back and forth Saturday, as John Carroll built an early 5-2 lead before Denison began a rally cry. The Big Red surged back from a 13-6 deficit to move ahead 23-20, getting contributions from Claire Hamilton on the attack and Maeve Perry on the block, but the Blue Streaks managed to halt the senior day momentum, as they scored the final five points, including consecutive service aces by Hailey Williams, to win 25-23.
Looking to get back into the match, Denison scored the first nine points of the ensuing second set behind Ryan Kotalik's serve, as the senior led a commanding run. Perry scored four points in the run, setting up a wire-to-wire run for Denison in the second set. The Big Red controlled the rest of the set, continuing their strong offensive approach as Devin Moore and Emily Monachino got involved, and the home side leveled the match with a 25-11 win.
The third set changed the outcome of the match, as each side went back-and-forth by trading runs left and right. John Carroll won the race to 10, but Denison turned around and scored a 4-0 run to get back in the set, tying the set at 10. The third of 13 ties in the set allowed the Big Red to get back in the flow, as they continued to fight for an outright hold of the lead with the Blue Streaks. Ryan Kotalik scored an ace to give Denison breathing room late in the set at 21-19, and a Devon Moore kill had the home side two points away from a 2-1 match lead, but JCU rallied again.
A 5-1 run and string of three unanswered points pushed John Carroll to set point at 25-24, but an attack error allowed Denison to scathe the deficit. The Blue Streaks would again capture set point at 26-25, but Claire Hamilton had the answer, as she scored a pivotal kill to give Denison the side out. Playing out of rotation due to sub limits, Denison scored a key block from Monachino and Gabrielle Wigglesworth to reach their set point, setting up Hamilton one rally later as the Big Red won 28-26 to take the match lead.
In the fourth set, John Carroll held the upper-hand, as they led early and pushed a one-sided lead to seven at the technical timeout. Trailing 15-8, Denison cut the 15-8 deficit to 17-15 by going on a 7-2 run fueled by Maeve Perry, but John Carroll held off the push, going on to win 25-19 and level the match 2-2.
In the final set, Denison aimed to prove who the better side was, jumping out to a 3-0 lead behind kills from Perry, Devon Moore, and Kate Sicklick. The Blue Streaks halted the run with a pair of points, but a strong 6-0 run paced by Sicklick and Monachino gave Denison a one-sided 9-2 lead. John Carroll would claw back with a 5-0 run to force a timeout, but the Blue Streaks effort was not enough to upend the Big Red, as Denison ran the offense through Monachino to get back in system. The sophomore scored four kills in the match-clinching run, as the Big Red scored the final six points to win 15-7, capping the 3-2 win on a Claire Hamilton kill.
Denison hit .522 with 13 kills and one error in the fifth set to cap their thrilling senior day win.
Maeve Perry finished with a season-high 15 kills while hitting .419 and added four total blocks for 17.5 points. The senior was one of four players in double-figure kills, as Claire Hamilton and Emily Monachino each finished with 15 kills, while Devon Moore scored 14 to go with 10 digs for a double-double. Ryan Kotalik collected a season-high 23 digs and added a service ace, while Whitley Metz posted a career-high 23 digs and contributed nine assists in the win. Amelia Kurtz had 27 assists and reached 500 career set assists, while Katelyn Chiu had 24 assists and 16 digs in the win, recording the team's other service ace in the win. Ayla Dunbar also had 10 digs in the win.
Up Next: The Big Red will stay in Livingston for their next match, hosting No. 16 Otterbein on Friday, October 16. The match begins at 6:30 p.m., and fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of the team's DigPink theme.
