Volleyball dominates home games against NCAC foes
Travis Marmon
Sports Editor
The Scots’ volleyball team went 4-0 on Oct. 15 and 16 as it hosted an NCAC Play Date against Oberlin College, Allegheny College, Denison University and Ohio Wesleyan University. None of their opponents won a single set in what was a truly dominating Wooster performance.
Oberlin (1-24, 1-13 NCAC) kept all three of its games close, but the Yeowomen fell short every time, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19. Wooster (19-8, 9-5) was led by 22 assists from Lizzie Beal ’12 and nine kills each from Paige Parker ’14 and Melissa Morgan ’13. Oberlin had a 6-2 lead in the second set, but it was quickly erased and the teams battled back and forth until the end.
Oberlin was led with 11 kills by Laura Jessee, 19 assists from Jenna Bange and 13 digs by Chinwe Okona.
Next was Allegheny (11-20, 4-10), which again kept the sweep close, losing 25-20, 25-23, 25-18. The Scots put up a .300 hitting percentage on the Gators, which was a season-high against conference opponents.
Allegheny’s Madie Hudac had 23 of her team’s 27 assists. Winnie Wong had 18 digs and Caitlin Rothman got 18 kills.
Beal had her second-highest number of assists on the season with 29. Parker, Morgan and Erica Skillman ’14 all reached double-digit kills with 12, 11 and 10, respectively, as Wooster finished the Saturday of competition with two victories.
Sunday matches began with Denison (10-15, 5-8), who did not put up nearly the fight of Oberlin or Allegheny. The Big Red opened the first set with an 8-5 lead, but ultimately lost 25-17, 25-13, 25-17. Denison hit a paltry .031 percentage (compared to Wooster’s .240). Beal and Autumn Berry ’14 combined for all 27 of the Scots’ assists while Morgan led the way with nine kills in a very even offensive effort for the Fighting Scots.
The weekend closed with a 25-12, 25-14, 25-12 stomping of Ohio Wesleyan (2-27, 1-13). The most danger the Battling Bishops posed was holding the Scots to a 14-11 lead in the first set. Devin Grandi ’13 then served seven consecutive points as Wooster went on an 11-1 run to close the set.
Beal and Berry had all 23 of the team’s assists and Morgan had eight kills in another all-around effort from the Scots’ attack.
Wooster’s winning streak came to an end on Saturday, however, as they hosted Hiram College (23-6, 11-2), who sit in second place in the conference.
The Terriers won in straight sets, 25-14, 25-21, 25-20, exacting revenge for their Sept. 25 loss to the Scots—the last time Hiram lost a match this season.
Hiram won the first set easily, but had trouble with the Scots later on, trailing 16-15 in the second set and 18-17 in the third. However, the Terriers pulled through in both games to complete their sweep of Wooster. Taylor Summerfield had a monstrous 33 assists to help her team earn the victory.
Wooster returns to action tonight in Timken Gymnasium against Ohio Wesleyan at 7 p.m. They will travel to Bluffton, Ohio tomorrow to take on Franklin College of Indiana (7-16) and Bluffton University (17-10).