HUTCHINSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College volleyball team improved to 14-6 overall and 10-4 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) after posting a pair of sweeps Friday over Saint Mary and York on the opening day of the KCAC Fall Fling at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
McPherson def. Saint Mary, 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-19)
As was the case in Wednesday night's sweep over Bethany, McPherson dominated the first set. The Bulldogs scored the first six points of the match en route to a 10-2 lead. The Spires later used a 7-2 run to cut the advantage to just four points at 15-11, but McPherson scored 10 of the final 12 points to take the set.
Lexi Kite (Thornton, Colo., Prairie View HS) had five kills and
Jamie Siess (Tecumseh, Kan., Shawnee Heights HS) 11 digs in the opening frame alone.
The second set opened up fairly evenly but a kill from setter
Morgan Little (Las Vegas, Nev., Hutchinson CC) broke a 9-9 tie and sent the Bulldogs on an 11-3 run. Saint Mary cut into the lead with a 5-1 run of their own but could get no closer than four points. Leading 21-17,
Leia Seiler (Fort Lupton, Colo., Fort Lupton HS) got a kill off a Saint Mary free ball.
Bree Wallace (Wichita, Kan., East HS) and
Devrie Sombers (Colorado Springs, Colo., Pinecreek HS) followed with a block and Little served up an ace to give McPherson set point. A ball-handling error by Siess prolonged the match, but Wallace ended the set on the next rally with a kill off a set by Little.
The third set played out much the same way the second set did as the teams traded the lead early on before McPherson was able to pull away with a big run. Kite broke a 13-13 tie with a kill, kicking off a 7-2 run that put the Bulldogs up 20-15. The teams traded the next eight points to give McPherson match point at 24-19. Unlike the previous set, the Bulldogs wasted no time bring the match to an end as Seiler put down another kill off an assist from
Kaitlyn Heinis (Oviedo, Fla., Paul J. Hagerty HS).
Kite finished with 12 kills and 18 digs, while Wallace added nine kills and Seiler seven. Wallace also had three digs and four block assists. Sombers posted five kills and four block assists, while
Riley Bradbury (Highlands Ranch, Colo., Rock Canyon HS) had five kills. Siess finished with 27 digs and
Rianne Richard (Wichita, Kan., Neosho CC) just missed double-digits with nine. Little and Heinis had 17 assists apiece.
"The Saint Mary win was a good redemption win from when we lost to them early in the season in five at their place," remarked head coach Jessica Cleveland. "We came out with both offensive and defense. Siess kept the ball off the floor with 27 digs and Kite kept putting the ball on the floor with 12 kills."
McPherson def. York, 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-20)
In contrast to the Saint Mary match, McPherson did not necessarily dominate in any of the sets but, instead, ground out a sweep over the Panthers. The Bulldogs used an 8-1 run to turn an early 6-4 deficit into a 12-7 lead. York was able to cut the lead to just three at 14-11, but McPherson forced three Panther attack errors and got a kill from Sombers and a Richard service ace to push the lead back to eight. York would get no closer than five the rest of the way and the Bulldogs closed out the set with a Seiler kill and a York setting error.
The teams followed a similar script to open the second set and the Bulldogs used another 8-1 run to take a 12-7 lead after trailing 6-4 early on.
Mady Woog (Highlands Ranch, Colo., Mountain Vista HS) had a pair of kills in the stretch that also featured aces from Heinis and Kite. York responded with three straight points, but was answered immediately the Bulldogs, who took seven of the next eight points to extend the lead to 19-11. The sides traded the next eight points to move the score to 23-15. The Panthers rattled off four of the next five points to cut the advantage to just five at 24-19, but York committed another unforced error with a set point at stake - this time a serving error - that gave McPherson a 2-0 lead overall.
The Panthers frustrated the Bulldogs early in the third set, using a 5-1 run to break up an early stalemate. McPherson slowly chipped away at the lead, finally moving ahead courtesy of a 6-0 run that turned a 14-11 deficit into a 17-14 lead. York responded with three consecutive points only to see a kill by
Elizabeth Williams (Grand Prairie, Texas, Mansfield Lake Ridge HS) spark a 5-0 run that gave the Bulldogs the lead for good. The Panthers were able to erase one match point, but that was all as a York attack error put McPherson over the top and ended the match.
Riley Bradbury finished with a team-high eight kills to lead McPherson. Wallace added six kills and a block assist, Woog had five kills and three block assists and Seiler checked in with four kills and four block assists. Kite, who played in only the first two sets, added four kills and nine digs. Richard had 14 digs and a pair of aces, while Siess and
Reven Bradbury (Highlands Ranch, Colo., Rock Canyon HS) had six digs each. Heinis posted 16 assists with Little adding 12 and Siess one.
Molly Little had 10 kills to lead all players, while Natalie Carrasco had 12 digs and Makenzi Kissman added 26 assists and five digs.
"Our underclassmen (Williams, Bradbury, Woog and Wallace) stepped up to put the ball away in our match against York," added Cleveland. "We hope to carry today's momentum into two tough matches tomorrow (Saturday) against KWU and Ottawa."
The Bulldogs make the short trip back to Hutchinson on Saturday for two more matches to finish out the Fall Fling. First up is a 1 p.m. match against Kansas Wesleyan followed by an 8 p.m. match against Ottawa. After avenging one of their four KCAC losses against Saint Mary, McPherson will look to do the same against both the Coyotes and Braves. Ottawa overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat McPherson in five sets on Sept. 16, while Kansas Wesleyan posted a four-set win on Sept. 22.
