STERLING, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College volleyball team's four-match winning streak came to a halt Friday night with a five-set loss to Sterling College at Gleason Center. The Warriors upended the Bulldogs 13-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 15-13 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) affair.
McPherson (11-6, 7-4 KCAC) posted 15 kills against just three errors on 30 attacks for a .400 hitting percentage en route to a dominating 25-13 opening-set victory. The Bulldogs used a 6-0 run to break an early 6-6 tie, then closed out the set on an 8-2 run capped by a kill by
Leia Seiler (Fort Lupton, Colo., Fort Lupton HS).
The momentum carried through into the start of the second set with McPherson building a 14-8 lead. Sterling (10-9, 5-6 KCAC) responded with a 10-2 run to take an 18-16 lead before the Bulldogs were able to get a side out. The visitors ended up scoring four of the next five points to retake the lead and force a Sterling timeout with McPherson in front 20-19. Out of the timeout,
Lexi Kite (Thornton, Colo., Prairie View HS) extended the lead to 21-19 with a service ace but followed it up by serving a ball into the net to cut the advantage back to one. Two more Warrior points followed before
Riley Bradbury (Highlands Ranch, Colo., Rock Canyon HS) was able to get a kill to tie the set at 22-22. A Sterling attack error put McPherson back into the lead, but the Warriors scored the final three points to tie the match at one set apiece.
Leading 10-9 in the third set, the Bulldogs used a 10-4 run to break the frame wide open and extend their lead to seven points. Sterling scored four of the next five to cut the advantage to four at 21-17, but the teams traded points the rest of the way as McPherson held on for the victory.
The fourth set featured a number of paired streaks. In the end it was a 7-1 Warrior run that turned a 17-14 deficit into a 21-18 lead. From there, the Bulldogs were unable to string together consecutive points and Sterling took the three-point victory to sent the match to a fifth-and-deciding set.
The Warriors rode the momentum from the fourth set into the fifth, grabbing the first four points en route to an 8-4 lead as the teams switched sides. McPherson did not give up, however, using a 4-1 run to cut the lead to just one at 9-8 before Sterling was able to get a side out. A Bulldog attack error gave the Sterling a two-point advantage and forced McPherson to take a timeout to regroup. Out of the timeout, the Bulldogs rallied for four of the next five points tie the score at 12-12 on a kill by Kite. Sterling head coach John Harding opted to call a timeout in order to settle his team down. The teams traded side-outs on the next two serves to move the score to 13-13, but the Warriors closed out the match on back-to-back kills by Chelsey Riffel.
Kite led the Bulldogs with 16 kills and 22 digs. She also had an ace and two block assists.
Mady Woog (Highlands Ranch, Colo., Mountain Vista HS) added 12 kills, while Bradbury,
Devrie Sombers (Colorado Springs, Colo., Pinecreek HS) and
Bree Wallace (Wichita, Kan., East HS) all had eight kills. Sombers had another strong day at the net with three blocks, including a solo stuff.
Jamie Siess (Tecumseh, Kan., Shawnee Heights HS) had a match-high 35 digs, while
Rianne Richard (Wichita, Kan., Neosho CC) added 24. The Bulldogs' 58 assists were split primarily between
Kaitlyn Heinis (Oviedo, Fla., Paul J. Hagerty HS) with 25,
Morgan Little (Las Vegas, Nev., Hutchinson CC) with 20 and
Rhianna Smith (McPherson, Kan., McPherson HS) with 10.
Riffel finished with a match-high 22 kills to lead Sterling. Makenzie Cork chipped in with 14 kills, while Alexandra Reid led four Warriors in double-digits with 30. Reid also had three aces. Mikaela Wells posted a 42-assist, 18-dig double-double.
The Bulldogs start the back half of their KCAC slate Wednesday evening when they host county rival Bethany College. First serve for the varsity match is slated for 7:00 p.m. from the McPherson College Sport Center.
