LINDSBORG, Kan. --- The McPherson College volleyball team improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) with a 3-1 win over Bethany Tuesday night at Ray D. Hahn Gymnasium.
The Bulldogs survived a close first set, 28-26, that saw 19 ties and three lead changes. The set was closed out by a kill from
Jessica Sanders (Rhome, Texas) - one of her team-high 13 in the match.
After a back-and-forth start to the second set, McPherson was able to score five straight points, including four on Sanders' serve to take a 15-10 lead. Bethany (0-8, 0-2 KCAC) cut the advantage to just two points at 18-16, but could get now closer as the Bulldogs pulled away for a 25-19 victory to go up two sets to none.
The Swedes found their offense to start the third set, racing out to an 8-1 lead. Bethany extended the advantage to 17-9 before McPherson mounted a charge. The Bulldogs scored 11 of the next 14 points to knot the score at 20-20. The teams traded side outs to move the score to 23-23 before the Swedes were able to string together consecutive points and take the set, 25-23.
The teams played evenly in the fourth set, eventually building the score to a 15-15 tie. From there, McPherson scored three straight points to take control of the match. Bethany cut the lead to one at 20-19, but was unable to draw even. The Swedes even fought off a pair of match points before
Lexi Kite (Thorton, Colo.) ended the match with a kill off an assist by
Kaitlyn Heinis (Oviedo, Fla.).
"We came in battling close games," said McPherson head coach Jessica Cleveland. "Bethany made us work for each point because they were so scrappy. We had a couple of big blocks that shifted momentum and things went our way. We were down 13-3 in the third set because of poor passing, but we adjusted and came back at them - eventually competing for set point a couple of times.
"
Emily [Warner] (Wichita, Kan.) and freshmen
[Jamie] Siess (Tecumseh, Kan.) had solid passing so we were able to run the middles. Heinis averaged 6.5 assists per set despite us running a two-setter offense."
Sanders posted a team-high 13 kills, four digs and three block assists to lead the Bulldog offense. Kite added 11 kills, four digs and three block assists, while
Leia Seiler (Fort Lupton, Colo.) had eight kills and
Jocelyn Cochran (Newton, Kan.) had seven and 10 digs.
Heinis finished with a team-high 26 assists, six digs and two aces, while Morgan Little added 16 assists and six digs.
Libero Emily Warner had a team-leading 15 digs, while Siess added nine.
The Bulldogs hit .241 (55 kills-16 errors-162 total attacks) in the match and hit .238 in each of the three sets they won. McPherson also had 8.0 blocks to Bethany's 2.0.
Bethany received double-doubles from Carli Vasholtz (19 kills, 11 digs) and Nikita Nelson (14 kills, 23 digs) while Opal Drapeau and Eileen Vlamis finished with 26 assists apiece and Conner Stolley had 22 digs.
McPherson returns to action Friday as it hosts the University of the Southwest (N.M.) and Central Christian College in a triangular at the Sport Center. MC and Southwest open the day with a match at 3 p.m. followed by Southwest and Central at 5 p.m. The crosstown rivals close out the event with a 7 p.m. matchup.
The next KCAC match on the docket is a home date with Oklahoma Wesleyan University on Wednesday, September 14. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
