ELKINS, W. Va. – The Kentucky Wesleyan College volleyball team suffered a 3-0 loss at Davis & Elkins on Thursday night to open its three-game road trip in West Virginia this weekend.  Each set was narrowly decided, 25-21, 25-23 and 27-25 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference matchup.  The Panthers fall to 7-12 overall and 3-5 in the conference while the Senators improve to 5-11 on the season and 3-5 in G-MAC play.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan found itself in a 5-2 deficit to open the match but utilized a 4-1 run to tie the first set at seven thanks to kills from Jaylen McEwen and Gabrielle Gallois.  Davis & Elkins took a commanding eight point lead after seven straight points.  Brouillette stopped the Senators momentum with a massive kill with an assist from Courtney Gildea.  A service ace from Nicole Venema and a kill from Sierra Morrow pulled the Panthers within five at 20-15.  Facing set point, Audrey Baysinger and McEwen each recorded a kill to keep the set alive but the Senators called a timeout at 24-21 and tallied a kill to close out the first set.
 
A tightly contested start to the second set saw neither team ahead by more than two points until the Panthers took an 11-8 lead.  Kentucky Wesleyan went on a 7-2 run to jump out to a 19-12 lead with McEwen tabbing a pair of kills and Baysinger and Morrow with a piece.  The Senators stormed back with a 8-1 run to knot the set at 20.  Two straight kills from Gallois put the Panthers ahead 22-20 but Davis & Elkins scored five of the final six points to take the second set 25-23.
 
The Panthers held took a 8-7 lead in the third set after three straight points including two kills from McEwen.  Davis & Elkins tallied six of the next seven points to take a 13-9 lead but Kentucky Wesleyan responded with four unanswered points to knot the score at 13.  Another four point run gave the Panthers a 17-16 lead and soon saw a 20-18 lead.  The Senators tied it up at 20 before taking a 24-23 lead.  Baysinger tallied a kill to make it 24-24 but three kills from Davis & Elkins gave them the 27-25 win.
 
McEwen and Baysinger led the offense with 12 kills a piece while Gallois contributed nine.  Venema tallied the lone service ace for the Panthers.  Baysinger led the Panthers with 15 digs followed by Hannah Pierce with 14 and Venema with 13.  Lydia Jackson led all players with 32 assists.  Morrow, Brouillette and Baysinger each tabbed two blocks.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan returns to action on Friday night, taking on Ohio Valley at 6 pm CT before closing out their road trip at Alderson Broaddus at 10 am CT on Saturday.
 
Stay up to date on all your Panther news by following @KWCpanthers on Twitter and by liking the "Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics" Facebook page.