Greencastle, Ind. - DePauw jumped out to a 2-0 lead over visiting Denison, but the Big Red came back with wins in the final three sets for a 3-2 (19-25, 25-27, 25-23, 25-22, 15-12) North Coast Athletic Conference victory. The Tigers dropped to 10-5 overall and 0-1 in the conference, while the Big Red improved to 7-8 overall and 1-0 in the NCAC.

The Tigers opened the match with five straight points and never trailed on the way to taking a 1-0 lead. DePauw grabbed an 18-10 lead in the second before Denison evened the count with an 8-0 run. Eight ties and four lead changes ensued before DePauw twice fought off set point and finished with a 3-0 stretch to extend the match lead to 2-0.

DePauw led by as many as five on multiple occasions with the last coming at 13-8. The Big Red went on a 9-1 run to take the lead for good and cut the Tigers' match lead in half. The fourth set included nine ties and six lead changes. The Tigers held a 15-14 lead, but a 6-1 Denison stretch put the Big Red in front for the rest of the set as they tied the match at 2-2.

In the fifth set, neither team led by more than one point until Denison scored three straight to gain an 8-6 advantage. DePauw was within one three times with the last coming at 12-11 before a pair of kills from Maeve Perry pushed the lead to 14-11. Olivia Karwin's kills brought the Tigers to within 14-12 but Perry's kill ended the match.

Denison outhit DePauw, .283-.249 and held a 75-61 edge in kills. Kaiden Harrington paced DePauw with 17 kills and Karwin had 26 assists. Claire Hamilton led Denison with 29 kills and Alice Kempf had 65 assists.

Karwin and Riley Kamer each had three of DePauw's 12 aces, while Sadie Habeeb had three of the Big Red's eight. Grace Myers led DePauw with 29 digs and Karwin had three blocks. Habeeb paced Denison with 23 digs with Katy McCaffrey totaling two blocks.

DePauw travels to Mount St. Joseph on Wednesday, Oct. 2, for a 7 p.m. match.