Denison University

New Wilmington, Pa. - The Denison women's volleyball team split their first two matches of the weekend as they played in the Westminster Invite on Friday. The Big Red fell in their first match of the day, 3-1, against the host Westminster, earning the lone set win in the second with a 25-16 victory. In the night cap, Denison rebounded in a big way, sweeping the Yellow Jackets of Waynesburg 3-0 to snap its five-match losing streak and finish the day 3-7 on the season.

Match 1 | Denison 1-3 Westminster
Westminster (PA) took the opening set 25-18 behind 13 kills and five service aces, while the Big Red finished with 10 kills and one ace. Claire Hamilton and Maeve Perry led the Big Red's attack with three kills apiece in the opening set, and Amelia Kurtz added the team's service ace, but Denison was unable to overcome an early 14-7 deficit in the set. 

The Big Red rallied and won the second set 25-16, finishing with a 12-5 advantage in kills and getting five points on blocks. A 7-of-8 stretch helped create separation, with Emily Monachino, Ayla Dunbar and Kate Sicklick recording kills during the run. Dunbar's contributions in both the set and the match helped her surpass 100 kills this season, becoming the first Denison player to do so. The strong nine-point victory leveled the match 1-1. 

Westminster (PA) returned the favor, winning the third set 25-18 and finishing with 14 kills to the Big Red's 11 and a 3-1 edge in service aces. Denison fell behind 10-5 in the set, and despite the efforts to get back within five points as Westminster reached its 20th point, the Big Red could get no closer than four, falling behind 2-1 in the match. 

Westminster would go on to win the final set 25-22, taking the match in four sets. The hosts finished strong with 16 kills and two service aces to the Big Red's 14 kills. The Big Red stayed in the fight the entire set, never trailing by more than three points, eventually taking a late 19-17 lead behind Hamilton and Dunbar. Westminster would roll back in front with four consecutive points, as they turned a 21-19 lead into their 25-22 victory. 

The Big Red matched Westminster (PA) closely in attacking volume, finishing with 47 kills on 174 attempts and a .138 hitting percentage while Westminster (PA) had 48 kills on 174 attempts at .126. Westminster (PA) held the serving advantage with 12 aces to the Big Red's two, while the Big Red produced the larger blocking total, 10 to four. The 10 blocks marked a season-high for the Big Red.

Sarah McShane recorded a team-high 24 digs and added four assists. Monachino finished with 18 digs and 18 assists, adding five kills and two block assists. Monachino's 18 digs marked a season-high for her, as she posted her eighth double-double of the season. Ayla Dunbar led the Big Red with 11 kills. Parkhurst posted a team-high six total blocks and added four kills on 18 attacks, and Perry also recorded a career-high total of five blocks.

Match 2 | Denison 3-0 Waynesburg
The Big Red responded in a big way in their final match of the day, opening the first set against Waynseburg on a 9-1 run. The run included a pair of Emily Monachino aces, along with a flurry of kills from Carolina Parkhurst, Zoe Johnson, and Maeve Perry. The Big Red continued to extend their lead with a Parkhurst and Perry blockand a slew of kills, pushing in front by 12 points at 18-6. Denison would get a service ace from Sarah McShane in the run that saw the lead turn one-sided, and after a kill from Kate Sicklick returned serve to the Big Red, Bella Hackett closed the opening frame with three consecutive aces for a 25-10 win.

In the second set, the Big Red faced an early 4-2 deficit, but a Perry kill, an error, and consecutive Maile Garrett aces put them ahead 6-4. They later reached 8-5 on a service error and another error, and maintained the lead with three straight points coming on kills Sicklick, Johnson, and Monachino. Leading 15-11, Denison would spark a 9-0 run on an attack error from Waynesburg, getting two big points from Moore and another from Maeve Perry on the attack. Three more Garrett service aces extended the lead to 24-11, and two rallies later, Devon Moore closed the set with a kill for a 25-12 Big Red win.

Leading 2-0 and on the verge of a sweep, the Big Red started the third set with a 5-1 lead, thanks to kills from Kurtz, Perry, and Johnson. They moved ahead 14-9, and a kill later in the set from Zoe Johnson sparked a 6-0 run, as Garrett served two more aces to push the lead to 22-12. Carolina Parkhurst and Sarah McShane added late kills, and Perry finished it with a kill for a 25-14 Big Red win. This marked the Big Red's first sweep of the season.

Perry led with nine kills and a .643 hitting percentage, adding one block assist, logging a season-high hitting percentage in the win. McShane recorded 19 digs and four assists to extend her streak of double-figure digs to 10 matches to open her career, and Garrett tallied seven service aces and four digs, setting a season-high with her aces. Emily Monachino had a team-high 15 assists to go with six kills and two aces, as her three digs eclipsed 100 for the season. Bella Hackett made an impact in her first match of the season, logging three service aces on six attempts. 

The team totaled 13 service aces in the match, exceeding their season average of 5.89.

UP NEXT: Denison will finish the week on Saturday making the short trip to Grove City from Westminster, playing on the second day of Grove City's Coaches vs Cancer Tournament. Denison plays Penn State Behrend at 10:00 a.m. and finishes the week against Mount Union at 4:00 p.m.