Wooster, Ohio - The Denison women's volleyball team bounced back into the win column on Saturday, earning a commanding sweep at The College of Wooster. The Big Red ended their sweep with a 25-16 third set win, as they improve to 8-14 overall on the season and 2-3 in the NCAC.
Denison started strong Saturday, as their serving and hitters opened up a 5-2 run to begin the first set. Denison won the race to 10 points behind kills from
Claire Hamilton and
Devon Moore, but Wooster would challenge the Big Red, clawing back within two. The Big Red continued to play with a lead, going through their hitters to expand the lead to five, while a service ace from Moore captured a 20-14 edge. In the red zone of the set, Denison had three players record a kill to close out the victory, as
Kate Sicklick closed out the opening set win 25-21.
Wooster would open the second set with three of the first five points, but the Big Red halted momentum early as a
Kate Sicklick kill and
Devon Moore kill pushed Denison back in front.
Amelia Kurtz's service ace at 10-5 forced a timeout for Wooster, and after the break, the setter scored two more aces, pushing Denison's lead to eight. The lead stayed between five and eight for Denison, as the Big Red continued to attack from all angles. Sicklick scored an ace to take the score to 20-13. A solo block from
Gabrielle Wigglesworth gave Denison its largest lead of the set at nine points at 22-13, setting up the Big Red's second set victory of 25-17.
Leading 2-0, Denison looked to finish off a sweep with a strong third set, as
Ryan Kotalik began the game with a service ace. The score would rock back and forth, but Denison took control after Wigglesworth landed a kill, as the first-year's point sparked a 5-0 run. The Fighting Scots tied the set at 11-11, but Denison rolled back in control with a commanding 7-1 run, as three consecutive kills from
Devon Moore pushed the lead to six at 18-12. Denison allowed just four points over the final 11 rallies, winning the match on consecutive
Claire Hamilton kills in a 25-16 third-set victory.
The Big Red had 41 kills as a team in the win, and hit .241 for the match. Both Hamilton and Moore had 11 kills in the win, while Sicklick had seven kills on eight attacks.
Amelia Kurtz finished with a team-high 23 assists and four service aces, while
Whitley Metz had two service aces to go with her team-high 10 digs.
Katelyn Chiu had 11 assists and nine digs.
Up Next: Denison will return home next Wednesday to play its final home game of the regular season, hosting the Oberlin College Yeowomen at 7:00 p.m.
