DePauw University’s volleyball team took down conference rivals Allegheny College and Hiram College this weekend.
The wins boost their record to 12-3 overall and 2-0 in North Coast Athletic Conference play.
The Tigers played their first NCAC match against Allegheny and beat them 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-22). Allegheny started off the first set with a 6-3 lead, but DePauw evened it up at 8-8 and took control of the rest of the set, going up 19-9 and maintaining a steady lead. The Tigers would go on to lead Allegheny for almost the entire second and third sets and easily sweep the Gators.
Senior middle hitter, Elisabeth Wilson, led the team with 11 kills and four blocks, while junior setter, Keegan Kollias, had 34 assists. First-year offensive hitter, Kaylee Nichols, and senior defensive hitter, Rachael Lenderman, both had 12 digs. DePauw showed off its impressively deep roster in the victory over Allegheny.
“We were able to play everyone on our team that was healthy to play today, so it was a great team win,” said Deb Zellers, DePauw’s head coach. “[We] saw a lot of our young players step up and do good things.”
Junior defensive specialist, Emily Beckes, echoed the same sentiments. “We were able to get other players in that haven't normally had a chance to play,” said Beckes. “They worked really well with everyone. We have a really great team dynamic.”
Wilson was hopeful the Tigers could carry their momentum into the match against Hiram. “We're hoping to feed off the energy that we had tonight, and really go into tomorrow with the same mentality,” she said.
DePauw was able to continue their winning form, beating Hiram 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-13, 25-18). After Hiram and DePauw split the first two sets, the Tigers took over in the next two sets and defeated the Terriers.
Junior middle hitter, Haley Bitzer, led DePauw with 11 kills, while sophomore offensive hitter, Suzanne Peters and Wilson each had 10. DePauw had 13 blocks in the game compared to Hiram's one. The Tigers as a team had a hitting percentage of .178, while the Terriers only hit .058. Five Tigers racked up double-digit digs, with Lenderman leading the way at 15.
