Last week, the Wooster volleyball squad split its last pair of NCAC regular season matches. The Fighting Scots defended Timken Gymnasium, sweeping Kenyon College 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-19) last Wednesday, Oct. 27.
The Wooster squad exacted revenge on the Kenyon team (12-15, 5-8 NCAC) that previously beat them 3-2 this season, in spite of knowledge that they would be a number three seed in the upcoming NCAC tournament regardless of the game’s outcome.
Once again, Lizzi Beal ’12 started the first set off strong offensively, serving seven consecutive service points to give the Scots an 8-1 lead. The Scots would post 14 kills and only two errors in the first set, pulling away to a 25-15 victory.
The Scots did not start off the second set as well as the first. However, after getting down 7-5, the squad slowly flipped point for point until Sarah Hawke ’12 hit a cannonball down the sideline to give them a 17-13 lead. The Scots never looked back and pulled out the second set 25-22.
Beal’s serving gave the Scots yet another cushion in the third set. Beal helped the Scots to a 5-1 lead, and they would pull out the third set and match victory with the defensive help of Kelley Johnson ’13 and Erin Webster ’13. Webster had the best statistical performance of the day, totaling 10 kills and a .474 hitting percentage.
Following the revenge victory over Kenyon, the volleyball team fell to Hiram College in three sets (25-23, 25-22, 25-18) last Saturday in Hiram, Ohio. The whole match was close, as Hiram came back to defeat Wooster by just two points in the first set. Wooster stayed competitive in each of the next two sets.
Paige Parker ’14 led the Scots with an efficient nine kills and one error on 21 attempts. Beal added 21 assists. Noteworthy was Zoe Zwegat ’14, who added four block assists, leaving her three shy of the 100-block club this season.
Unfortunately, despite the regular season ending loss to NCAC rival Hiram College, the Scots will have the opportunity to rebound against them in the NCAC tournament.
Wooster, who had locked up the number three seed, will get another opportunity to see number two Hiram next Friday to advance to the championship match. The action starts at 7 p.m. at Springfield, Ohio.