GRANVILLE, Ohio — The Denison women's volleyball team suffered a five-set defeat on Tuesday night, losing 3-2 to Earlham in Livingston Gymnasium. Despite finishing with 63 kills and a 10-3 edge in service aces, Denison fell in the decisive fifth set 15-9, falling to 2-6 overall on the season.
Earlham created the first separation in the opening set with four straight points from 5-5 to 9-5 and later held a 12-9 lead. The Big Red answered with six straight points, as the run featured a
Claire Hamilton and
Emily Monachino kill, a block by Hamilton and
Carolina Parkhurst, and back-to-back
Kate Sicklick service aces to move in front 15-12. Earlham came back to tie the set at 16-16 and went ahead 18-17, but
Ayla Dunbar helped the Big Red steady the set with kills that tied it at 18-18 and put the Big Red ahead 20-19 before an
Amelia Kurtz ace and a Sicklick-Monachino block made it 22-19. Earlham closed within 23-22, but Hamilton answered with a kill for set point, and Monachino's block finished the Big Red's 25-22 set win.
After the teams traded points to 6-6 in the second set, the Big Red built a 13-8 lead with kills by Dunbar, Sicklick, and Parkhurst, with two more aces from Sicklick punctuating the run. The Big Red later held an 18-14 edge after another Dunbar kill, but Earlham scored five straight points to move ahead 19-18. Dunbar tied it at 19-19, and the Big Red came back from 23-21 to even the set at 23-23, but Sadie Mae Calma and Caylee Brandes closed the set with consecutive kills for Earlham's 25-23 win.
Earlham built a 10-5 lead to start the third set, breaking an early 3-3 draw as they looked to gain the set advantage. The Big Red answered with four straight points to trim it to 10-9, but Earlham regained its separation with five of the next six points, pushing in front 16-11. The Quakers later led 19-12, but Hamilton, Dunbar, and a
Maeve Perry-Parkhurst block helped the Big Red pull within 19-16, giving life to the home team late. Earlham gradually reached set point at 24-20, and despite the best efforts of Hamilton's attacks to avoid the loss, a Caylee Brandes finished the set with a kill for a 25-22 Earlham win, giving the road team a 2-1 lead.
Facing the match-clinching set, the Big Red opened the fourth set by scoring the first four points, as a Monachino-Sicklick block and three consecutive Sicklick aces captured a 4-0 lead. Earlham traded points through the middle of the set and was within 10-6 on a Ciara Logan kill, but the Big Red pushed the margin to 14-6 behind Dunbar, Hamilton, and Monachino, never trailing the set. Earlham could not get closer than seven points, and behind
Whitley Metz's serve, the Big Red scored four consecutive points and inched closer to set point. Earlham would chip away at the commanding Denison lead, but could not get closer than 10, as Dunbar finished off the fourth set 25-15, leveling the match two sets each.
In the deciding fifth set, Earlham opened with the first three points, putting the Big Red in an early hole.
Claire Hamilton supplied kills in retaliation for the Big Red to rally her squad, but Earlham pushed the margin to 9-3, forcing Denison into a timeout. The Big Red continued to trade points behind Dunbar, Perry, and Hamilton attacks, but Earlham answered each late sideout, closing out the set 15-9 to win the match 3-2.
In the loss, Denison had 63 kills as a team and hit .247, a season-best percentage, both season highs for the offense. Denison also logged 10 service aces, but suffered 14 errors at the service line in the loss.
Hamilton led the Big Red with 22 kills and 22.5 points while hitting .373, marking a season-high in both kills and hitting percentage for the senior. Dunbar added a season-high 21 kills on a .357 hitting percentage, giving Denison its first match of the season with two players recording 20 or more kills in a match. Sicklick tallied seven service aces and added four blocks. Kurtz finished with 31 assists, two aces, and three digs, achieving a season-high in assists.
Emily Monachino recorded her eighth consecutive double-double in the loss, finishing the match with a triple-double of 11 kills, 23 assists, and 10 digs.
Sarah McShane led the team in digs with 12.
Up next, the Denison volleyball team travels to western Pennsylvania, competing at both Westminster and Grove City on Friday and Saturday. The team will play two matches each day.
