OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Kentucky Wesleyan College volleyball team took the first set against the University of Findlay on Saturday afternoon but fell three sets to one against the Great Midwest Athletic Conference newcomers.  The Panthers move to 5-9 overall and 1-4 in the conference while the Oilers move to 12-1 overall and remain unbeaten in the conference at 5-0.

The first set was a nail biter as neither team scored more than two points in a row until the Panthers closed it out with three points.  Jaylen McEwen tallied a kill with an assist from Lydia Jackson then McEwen recorded a service ace to take the first set 25-22.

Findlay opened the second set with a five point run to jump out to a 6-1 lead.  Kentucky Wesleyan fought back to get within five points at 11-6 after a kill by Gabrielle Gallois.  The Panthers were unable to take control of the second set as Findlay kept them from scoring back-to-back points.  Five of the Oilers final six points were scored off of kills.

The Panthers took a 7-5 lead in set three after a three point run off of kills from Sierra Morrow and Nilah Roy.  The Oilers fought back to take a 8-7 lead but Kentucky Wesleyan responded with three points of their own to regain a 10-8 lead after two kills from Roy and a service ace from Courtney Gildea.  Findlay went on a 5-1, eventually taking the third set 25-17.

Midway through the final set, the Panthers took a 5-1 run to cut Findlay's lead to four at 18-14.  Roy tallied two more kills during the run and McEwen tabbed one.  They rally was too little too late as the Oilers took the fourth set 25-19 to take the match 3-1.

Roy finished with 17 kills on the day along with one block and 12 digs.  Gildea tabbed six kills, one service ace, 12 assists and 12 digs.  Jackson led the Panthers with 22 assists while Venema led with 16 digs.

In the nightcap, the Panthers headed to Brescia University to take on the Bearcats who took a 1-0 lead after the first set with a strong 25-8 win.

Kentucky Wesleyan scored six unanswered points in the second set to jump out to a 12-6 lead.  Brescia pulled within two then utilized a six point run to take a 22-18 lead.  Brouillette and Moran each tallied a kill to make it 24-21 but the Bearcats took the second set 25-21.

The Panthers took a 5-2 lead to start the third set and held a steady lead until it was 13-10.  Brescia went on a 10-2 run to take a 20-15 lead.  A pair of kills from Baysinger and a service ace from Brouilette made it 21-20 Bearcats.  Brescia extended its lead to 23-20 until the Panthers scored three straight points to tie it at 23 thanks to two kills from Morrow.  After a Brescia timeout, the Bearcats tallied two kills to take the set 25-23 and the match 3-0.

Brouillette finished the match with 10 kills, one service ace and one block.  Morrow and Baysinger tabbed six kills apiece.  Courtney Gildea led the Panthers with 19 assists while Jaylen McEwen led the way with 17 digs.

The Panthers will head to Oakland City on September 26th for a non-conference match before heading to Ohio Dominican on September 29th followed by Cedarville on September 30th for a pair of conference matches.

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