Henry Schneiderman
Sports Editor
Last Monday, Oct. 5, The College of Wooster women’s volleyball team traveled to Sharon, Pennsylvania to take on the Pennsylvania State University Shenango Lions in a thrilling matchup. Following a short losing streak against opponents DePauw University (3-0) and Denison University (3-1) over fall break, the Scots hoped to bounce back in the Keystone State with a win over the Lions.
The game’s first set proved a competitive run, with each team trading points until Wooster broke away off a service error from the Lions, bringing the score to 20-19. They followed this with an impressive block by Amelia Mitchell ’25 and Emma Fleck ’27 on Shenango’s Sydney Ward ’28 to create a 2-point gap between the teams. The match returned to a level contest shortly after this breakaway, before a kill from Izzy Cozzie ’26 turned the score in the Scots’ favor at 24-23. A subsequent Shenango failed attack gave Wooster a narrow win in set 1 (25-23).
Unlike the first, set 2 was a lopsided affair as the Scots came out of the gate strong to amass an early 5-0 lead, with 2 of those points coming from Fleck aces. Shenango had no answer for Wooster’s dominant opening, as the score rose to a strong 11-3. Wooster then closed the set out with a 9-1 stretch to leave the second set’s final score at an assertive 25-9 victory. Throughout the closing stretch, Kora Burill ’27 contributed 3 consecutive points through back-to-back kills and an impressive block.
Not willing to concede, Penn State Shenango regrouped in the third set and pulled away with a narrow 25-22 victory to get themselves on the board. Undeterred, the Scots put forth a dominant showing in the fourth set’s opening act with an unanswered 6-0 stretch. The team continued this onslaught with high-quality plays across the board — notably from Tamara Turner ’25, whose initial kill began Wooster’s breakaway. Jordan Laraway ’27 served the Lions an ace that finished the run with a score of 19-9. Throughout this run, Laraway delivered 2 aces while Turner and Olivia Kitchen ’25 gained a point off an impressive block. Set 4 concluded 25-14 and wrapped up a triumphant Fighting Scots performance.
Throughout the match, the team delivered a number of highlight performances. The group came close to matching season-highs in aces and blocks, with an impressive 15 aces that fell 2 short of their best, and 11 blocks that were just one away from a season best. Cozzie led the way for these near-season-high statistics with 4 aces and 2 blocks. Fleck matched this high tally of aces while Laraway put up 3. Mitchell and Turner tied for a team-high 7 kills apiece while Cozzie followed with 6 and Kitchen delivered 5. Lucy Kinser ’25 led the team’s defensive effort with 26 digs to tie the season high and collect her sixth match of the season with over 20 digs. Turner followed this effort with a strong 14 digs. Additionally, Fleck added 23 assists to the stat line.
Following this result, the Scots have regained their winning form and seek to continue their streak in a tri-match on Sat. Oct. 19, at Pennsylvania State University Behrend with an opening match against Pennsylvania State University Altoona and then later against the host team. Go Scots!
