(WILMINGTON, Ohio) – The Wilmington Quakers defeated the Kenyon Owls in four sets Wednesday night at Raizk Arena in Hermann Court. With the win, the Quakers finished their season-opening five-match homestand with a 4-1 record.
Wilmington, led by three kills from Emelia Mohler and two from Mackenzie Simpson, opened the first set with an 11-7 lead. The visiting Owls flipped the momentum with a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the evening. Trailing 13-11, two kills from Mohler, a kill from Simpson and a service ace from Mia Spence helped the Quakers retake the advantage with a 6-1 scoring run. The back-and-forth nature of the frame continued as Kenyon tied the set at 17-17 before Wilmington pulled away. Two kills apiece from Magee Fain and Brinlee Preston helped power an 8-3 closing run as the Quakers took the opening set, 25-20.
In the second set, Wilmington never trailed en route to a wire-to-wire victory. The Quakers built a 5-0 lead behind kills from Emma Specht and Aubrey Clark and extended their advantage to as many as 12 points. Three kills apiece from Fain and Preston, a service ace from Paige Shouse and back-to-back kills from Mohler helped the Green and White cruise to a 25-13 victory in set two.
Coming out of the five-minute break between sets two and three, Kenyon regrouped to win the third set, 25-23. While the Owls built multiple four-point leads in the frame, Wilmington stayed within striking distance and eventually pulled ahead, 23-22. Kenyon responded by scoring three consecutive points to force a fourth set.
The back-and-forth tone returned in the fourth. With the set tied at 12-12, Kenyon briefly pulled ahead by one before the Quakers responded. Kills from Preston and Fain and a service ace from Emma Doherty helped Wilmington take the lead for good with a 4-0 run. The Owls pulled within one point twice more, but the Quakers never relinquished the lead. Wilmington closed the match on a 5-0 run highlighted by back-to-back service aces from Simpson and two kills from Shouse to secure the fourth set, 25-19, and the 3-1 victory.
Notables
- Wilmington held a 54-35 advantage in kills.
- The Quakers also held an advantage at the service line, registering 13 aces to Kenyon's three.
- Brinlee Preston recorded a match-high seven blocks. Her seven blocks are the second-highest single-match total by an OAC player this season through Sept. 9, trailing only Annabelle Hacker's eight blocks against Chatham.
- Emelia Mohler recorded a team-high 16 kills. Mackenzie Simpson and Magee Fain added 11 and nine, respectively.
- Emma Specht recorded a career-high 17 digs en route to her first double-double of the season. Her previous career high was 14 digs at Hanover on Sept. 17, 2025. The third-year setter from Chillicothe, Ohio, also added 14 assists.
- Logan McQuillin and Mia Spence both recorded 10 digs, marking the first match this season in which three Quakers reached double-digit digs.
- Jana Metz tallied a team-high 23 assists, marking her second match this season with 20 or more assists. She also tied Spence for the team lead with three service aces.
- The Quakers finished their season-opening five-match homestand with a 4-1 record.
- The match marked the first time this season that Wilmington played beyond three sets.
Quaker Quotes
Next Up
Wilmington hits the road for the first time in 2026 to compete at the Keystone College Tournament in La Plume, Pennsylvania, against Keystone, Elmira and Mount Saint Vincent. The Quakers begin the tournament against Keystone at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11.
The match will stream on YouTube, and live stats will be available on gokcgiants.com.
