| About OWU | | | Academics | | | Admission | | | Alumni | | | Athletics | | | Faculty/Staff | | | Students |
Grove City 3, Ohio Wesleyan 1
Transylvania 3, Ohio Wesleyan 2
Sept. 5, 2009
![[ Lainey Kekic ]](../images/kekic5.jpg)
Senior outside hitter Kristin Kovach (Chagrin Falls/Kenston), junior middle hitter Lainey Kekic (Canfield/Western Reserve), and freshman outside hitter Meg Weissenberger (Toledo/Central Catholic) led Ohio Wesleyan on the second day of its annual Bishop Invitational on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.
Bishop Invitational schedule and results
Grove City defeated Ohio Wesleyan in its first match of the day by scores of 21-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-10. The Bishops came back later and erased a 2-sets-to-1 deficit but saw Transylvania escape with a 5-set win by scores of 22-25, 25-17, 25-12, 19-25, 15-11.
Grove City took an early 4-1 lead in the first set of the opening match, but Ohio Wesleyan rallied to tie the set at 5-5 with the help of kills from Kovach and Meg Weissenberger. The Bishops later reeled off 6 straight points to take a 14-8 lead, with Kovach and junior setter Sarah Marshall (Lima/Senior) contributing kills and junior outside hitter Alexa Bean (Columbus/Upper Arlington) adding an ace. The Wolverines were able to cut the deficit to 19-18, but Weissenberger had a kill during a 3-0 Bishop run that restored a 4-point lead, and Bean ended the set with a kill for the 25-21 Ohio Wesleyan win.
The second set was edge-of-the-seat volleyball, with neither team leading by more than 3 points until a 6-0 Grove City run gave the Wolverines a 17-14 lead. Grove City extended its lead to 20-16 only to see the Bishops rally to tie the set at 21-21 with a kill by Weissenberger and a block by Kekic. Grove City answered with a tip by Annie Barry, then scored the last 2 points of the set for a 25-22 decision.
The Wolverines threatened to run away with the third set, going on an 8-2 run that included a pair of kills by Mary Masincup and a pair of blocks by Jodi Barry that produced a 17-9 lead. Ohio Wesleyan answered with a furious rally, with Weissenberger collecting 2 kills, an ace and a block; Marshall contributing an ace; and finally Weissenberg scoring a point that brought Ohio Wesleyan within 24-23, but the Wolverines' Inga Rasmussen tallied the next point to end the set at 25-23.
Freshman middle hitter Ashley Haynes (Norton) then scored to bring the Bishops within 7-5 in the fourth set, but Grove City pulled away with a 10-4 run and went on to take the fourth set and the match. Anna McCurdy had a kill and an ace during that Wolverine run, while Barry added a pair of kills.
Weissenberger pounded out a team-leading 16 kills, while Marshall had 20 assists. Defensively, freshman middle hitter Hannah Benzing (Findlay/Liberty Benton) had 7 blocks and Haynes added 6 blocks, and Kovach had a team-high 22 digs.
Against Transylvania, the Bishops started fast, racing to a 7-1 lead behind the scoring of Kekic and a timely block by Benzing. A pair of kills by Kovach sandwiched around another from Benzing helped the Bishops extend their lead to 11-2, but the Pioneers chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied the set at 20-20. Ohio Wesleyan again rallied in the late going, breaking a 22-22 tie with a Kovach kill and a tip by Marshall to end the set, giving Ohio Wesleyan a 25-22 win.
In the second set, it was Transylvania taking the early 7-1 lead as Meredith Benninger scored a pair of points and Rebecca Luking delivered a pair of aces. The Pioneers led, 17-7, on Benninger's kill when Ohio Wesleyan came back, cutting the gap to 21-17 with the help of a Bean kill and a Kekic ace, but Transylvania scored the final 4 points of the set, with Liz Dauer contributing an ace and the deciding point, for a 25-17 Pioneer win.
Transylania led, 7-1, again in the third set, as Blayke Herman highlighted the Pioneer offense with 3 straight points. Ohio Wesleyan came within 12-7 on back-to-back Kovach kills, but Transylvania put the set out of reach with a 7-0 run that included kills from Luking and Lindsey Hickerson and a block by Benninger.
Ohio Wesleyan stayed alive with a win in the fourth set, breaking an 8-8 tie with 5 straight points that featured a kill and a block from Kovach and a Marshall kill. Transylvania rallied to within 16-14, but another 5-0 Bishop run, this time feature a kill and a block by Haynes and a tip from Marshall, helped the Bishops close the set and force a deciding fifth set.
The fifth set saw the Bishops take a 7-4 lead on Haynes's kill, but Transylvania tied the score at 7-7 with kills from Jordan Geisen and Benninger. Marshall scored for an 8-7 Bishop lead, but the Pioneers countered with 5 straight points, with Herman scoring 3 of those, to take a 12-8 lead. Ohio Wesleyan rallied to within 13-11 with the help of kills from Kovach and Kekic, but a Dauer tip ended the set and the match in Transylvania's favor.
Kekic, Weissenberger, and Kovach led the balanced Bishop offense with 9 kills apiece, with Marshall dishing out 27 assists. Haynes had a season best of 8 blocks, and Bean racked up 26 digs.