Ohio Wesleyan 3, Denison 1

Oct. 20, 2007

Senior outside hitter Stefanie McCoy (Powell/Olentangy) and junior setter Shea Pence (Danville, Ind./Danville Community) fueled a 7-0 rally that ended the match and gave Ohio Wesleyan a North Coast Athletic Conference win over Denison on Saturday in Branch Rickey Arena.

Ohio Wesleyan won the match by scores of 30-28, 30-21, 24-30, 30-25, giving the Bishops a key win in the race for the final spot in the upcoming NCAC tournament.

The Bishops had taken a 22-19 lead in the fourth game when Denison answered with a 6-1 run, getting kills from Kelsey Bruce and Sara Mason. Trailing, 25-23, the Bishops bounced back with a kill by senior outside hitter Steffi Graf (Poland/Seminary) before tying the game when Pence threw out an arm reacting to a Denison kill attempt and the ball went over the net and fell for the point. McCoy followed with back-to-back kills, then Pence and senior middle hitter Kelli Lester (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) went up for a block to make it 29-25 before the match ended when Bruce's kill attempt went into the net.

Ohio Wesleyan used a 6-0 run to take the lead in the first game, with Graf recording a kill and Lester posting a block. The Big Red came back to take a 12-11 lead on a Bruce kill, but the Bishops retook the lead with a 5-0 spree that included 2 Graf kills and a kill and a block by junior middle hitter Janna Dagley (Beavercreek). Ohio Wesleyan still led, 22-17, when Denison rallied for a 25-24 lead, with Bruce supplying 4 kills during that stretch. The Bishops came back to lead, 28-26, on a McCoy kill only to see Denison come back to even the game at 28-28. McCoy stepped up once more, pounding out consecutive kills to end the game.

The Bishops threatened to run away with the second game, breaking a 4-4 tie with an 11-2 spree that featured kills by Lester and Dagley and a pair of aces from sophomore outside hitter Kristin Kovach (Chagrin Falls/Kenston). Ohio Wesleyan still led, 24-15, on a McCoy kill before Denison closed to within 26-21, with Bruce supplying a pair of kills. Lester ended the Big Red rally with a tip into the middle of the Big Red defense before Pence notched back-to-back kills, and the game ended when Whitney Scott Van Voigt's kill attempt went into the net.

The third game saw Denison jump on top early, taking a 4-1 lead and pulling away from an 8-7 lead with a 7-1 run that included kills by Van Voigt, Kasia Kucharski and Bruce. The Big Red still led, 22-18, when the Bishops got a pair of kills from McCoy and another from Lester to tie the game at 22-22. After Kucharski and freshman outside hitter Alexa Bean (Columbus/Upper Arlington) traded kills, leaving the game tied at 23-23, the Big Red went on a 7-1 run to end the game, with Kucharski turning in 3 kills and a block assist during that spree.

Ohio Wesleyan opened the fourth game with a 7-2 run, with Lester contributing 2 kills, a solo block and a block assist, and McCoy kicking in a kill and a block assist. Denison rallied to tie the game at 11-11, with Bruce and Kucharski each piling up 2 kills, before Lester, McCoy and Graf helped the Bishops open up an 18-14 lead.

Graf led the Bishops with 15 kills. McCoy finished with 14 kills, making no kill errors in 39 attempts, while Lester added 13 kills, making no errors in 29 attempts for a .448 hitting percentage. Pence directed the Bishop offense, dishing out 53 assists.

Defensive standouts for Ohio Wesleyan included Lester, who led the way with 10 blocks; Graf, who had 28 digs; and Bean, who finished with 27 digs.

Senior libero Jaime Scharf (Marion/River Valley) led the Bishops with 35 digs to become Ohio Wesleyan's all-time leader in that category, passing the mark of 2189 set by Kristen Shockley from 1996-99.