RICHMOND – The Earlham College volleyball team lost its home opener to Ohio Wesleyan University on Tuesday evening 3-1. 

The Quakers fell to 4-8 on the season. 

Freshman Caylee Brandes led the offense with 10 kills on the evening. Maria Young scored five aces, and had six kills. 

Ava Walters dished out 20 assists, with one ace and seven digs. Earlham Libero Lauren Newcomer collected 22 digs and had two serving aces. 

As a team, the Quakers attacked at a .078 clip with 39 kills. 

Ohio Wesleyan started with the jump, and scored an 11-2 run to open set one. Trailing 22-12, the Quakers fought back with five straight points, aided by three aces from Young. 

The second set was the best of the evening for the Earlham offense, and the Quakers hit at a .222 percentage with 16 kills. The only set with double-digit kills for Earlham began with OWU taking a 9-3 lead. Undeterred, the Quakers rattled off seven straight points to begin a 12-2 run. With Earlham leading 24-22, Skyler Murray iced the set with a kill. 

Earlham was back down to a 0.0 attack percentage in set three with seven errors on offense. In the same frame, the Bishops put up their best offensive performance with a .308 attack percentage and 12 kills. 

Each team began the fourth set with a run of four straight points. After a 4-0 run gave Earlham a 21-20 lead, the Bishops went on a 5-2 spree to end the match. 

Earlham will be back in action this weekend at the Knight Classic hosted by Calvin College. Its first matchup of the weekend is with Calvin on Friday at 3 pm in Grand Rapids.