GRANVILLE, Ohio — The Denison women's volleyball team lost to Muskingum 3-0 (19-25, 17-25, 15-25) on Wednesday night in their return to the Livingston Gymnasium. The Big Red, now 4-9 overall, suffered a near 20-percent difference in hitting percentage in the loss to the Muskies.
The Big Red spent much of the match working back from early deficits, with their longest push coming after Muskingum opened a 10-1 lead in the first set. Denison cut that gap to 15-13, keeping the set within reach after the early separation as
Maeve Perry and
Ayla Dunbar began to heat up. Denison would eventually get within three after Muskingum won the race to 20 points, but despite a
Kate Sicklick service ace and
Emily Monachino kill, the Fighting Muskies were able to win 25-19.
The Big Red traded the first four points with Muskingum in the ensuing second set, getting kills from Hamilton and Monachino, but an early deficit opened as the Muskies' Sophia Keller served a 4-0 run to give the visitors a lead of 5-2.
Carolina Parkhurst and Monachino helped Denison stay within 9-7, but Muskingum scored four straight, pushing the margin to 13-7. Muskingum would never look back after building the six-point lead, and despite the efforts of Dunbar, Perry, and Parkhurst, Denison was unable to rally and fell in the second set 25-17.
The Big Red built an early 5-2 lead in the third set as they looked to push the match into a fourth set, but Muskingum scored five straight points to move in front 7-5, cutting the Denison momentum. Muskingum later stretched the lead to 12-7, leading 15-10 at the technical timeout. The Big Red scored consecutive points trailing 15-10 to try and get back in the fight, but they could not answer a 5-1 visiting run, as they would go on to lose the final set 25-15.
Monachino led the Big Red with 12 kills while hitting .346 and added 15 assists, good for her ninth double-double of the season. Kurtz finished with a team-high 17 assists and six digs, while Sicklick served four aces and added three digs. McShane collected a team-best nine digs and added one ace, halting her streak of double-digit digs at 12 matches.
Claire Hamilton finished the night with eight kills, while
Ryan Kotalik had eight digs.
Up next, the Big Red travel to Springfield, Ohio, to face Wittenberg University on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 1 p.m., as they play the Tigers in their NCAC opener.
