Ohio Wesleyan 3, Kenyon 0

Oct. 1, 2008

Sophomore outside hitter Alexa Bean (Columbus/Upper Arlington) produced timely kills to end the first and second sets, and junior outside hitter Kristin Kovach (Chagrin Falls/Kenston) and sophomore setter Sarah Marshall (Lima/Senior) provided some key scoring in the third set as Ohio Wesleyan defeated Kenyon in North Coast Athletic Conference action on Wednesday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The Bishops defeated the Ladies by scores of 25-20, 25-19, 25-17.

The first set started out as a back-and-forth affair, with only one lead of more than a single point before Kenyon tied the set at 9-9 on a kill by Mary Myers. Ohio Wesleyan answered with a 3-0 run that included a kill by sophomore middle hitter Lainey Kekic (Canfield/Western Reserve) only to see the Ladies rally to tie the set at 13-13. Kenyon was still within 19-17 when the Bishops took off on a 4-1 burst that included a Kekic kill and a service ace by Marshall, and with Ohio Wesleyan holding a 24-20 lead, Bean pounded out a kill to end the set.

Kenyon took an early 4-2 lead in the second set, but the Bishops bounced back with a 4-0 run that included tips by sophomore middle hitter Stacey Tighe (Lewis Center/Olentangy) and freshman outside hitter Sara Morris (Point White Mountain, Alaska/Mt. Edgecumbe). The Ladies cut the deficit to 6-5 on Maggie Taylor's kill, but Ohio Wesleyan reeled off the next 5 points, with Bean blasting a pair of kills and Tighe contributing a block, and stretched the margin to 19-9 with the help of kills by Bean and Kovach. Kenyon rallied to within 24-19, highlighted by 3 kills and a pair of service aces from Crystal Piras, but once again Ohio Wesleyan countered with a timely kill by Bean to end the set.

Bean made her presence felt early in the third set, ripping a pair of kills as Ohio Wesleyan raced to a 9-2 lead. Kovach also had a pair of kills and a pair of service aces, while Tighe and Morris also added kills. Piras helped rally the Ladies to within 10-5, and Laura Harris and Brigid Donahue contributed kills to bring Kenyon as close as 12-8, but Kovach added 2 more kills and Marshall zipped 2 more service aces to spark a 5-2 Ohio Wesleyan run, and the Bishops finished off the set with a kill by freshman outside hitter Sam Smyth (Falmouth, Maine).

Bean led the Bishops with 11 kills and 4 blocks. Marshall doled out a team-high 27 assists, Kovach added 8 kills, and junior libero Katie Schlaudt (Holland, Mich.) had 14 digs.