OMAHA, Neb. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College volleyball team bounced back from a tough loss at Saint Mary Wednesday evening with a pair of 3-0 victories over Dakota State University and Presentation College Friday in the College of Saint Mary/Grace University Invitational at Jim Classen Gymnasium on the campus of Grace University.
McPherson def. Dakota State, 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-21)
McPherson raced out to a 14-7 lead in the opening set before Dakota State rallied for eight in a row to take a 15-14 lead. A Trojan service error ended the rally and knotted the match. The Bulldogs responded with six of the next nine points to take a 21-18 advantage and were able to hold Dakota State off down the stretch as a pair of kills by
Lexi Kite (Thornton, Colo., Prairie View HS) closed out the set. McPherson posted a .312 attack percentage in the set compared to the .250 put up by Dakota State.
McPherson was down 5-0 and 9-2 to open the second set before charging back to take a 14-13 lead. Three straight Bulldog attack errors followed by a kill by Kaylee Spreier put the Trojans back in front by a 17-14 score, but McPherson closed with an 11-4 run to take 2-0 lead overall.
The Bulldogs took the early lead in the third set, leading 7-1 before the Trojans responded with a 10-3 run to take an 11-10 lead. With the score tied at 15, McPherson went on a 9-3 run to set up match point. Dakota State would extend the match by taking the next three points before a
Riley Bradbury (Highlands Ranch, Colo., Rock Canyon HS) kill ended the affair.
Kite led all players with 14 kills and a .310 attack percentage but was limited to just four digs.
Bree Wallace (Wichita, Kan., East HS) added eight kills, three block assists and a pair of digs, while
Mady Woog (Highlands Ranch, Colo., Mountain Vista HS) had seven kills and four blocks (one solo).
Morgan Little (Las Vegas, Nev., Hutchinson CC) and
Kaitlyn Heinis (Oviedo, Fla., Paul J. Hagerty HS) racked up 21 and 16 assists, respectively, while
Jamie Siess (Tecumseh, Kan., Shawnee Heights HS) had a match-high 13 digs.
Jaz Williams led the Trojans with eight kills, while Spreier and Maddie Polzin had seven apiece. Mallory Testerman added 10 digs for Dakota State, which had eight blocks.
McPherson def. Presentation, 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-21)
McPherson dropped the first point of its second match of the day but rebounded to take six of the next seven en route to a runaway first-set victory against Presentation. The Bulldogs hit .329 with 15 kills and just four errors on 29 total attacks in the first set. The Saints were limited to a .107 attack percentage.
In the second set, McPherson scored the first thee points - including an ace - on the serve of Kaitlyn Heinis en route to an 11-5 lead, but Presentation responded with six points in a row to tie the set at 11-11. The teams traded the lead back and forth before the Bulldogs broke through with four points in a row, including a pair of aces from Siess, to take a 21-17 lead. McPherson closed out the set with four of the final seven points.
Two kills and a block by Leia Seiler helped the Bulldogs build a 7-1 lead in the third set. Presentation slowly chipped away at the McPherson advantage, posting a 7-2 run backed by a trio of service aces to tie the set at 17 and force a Bulldog timeout. McPherson regrouped out of the timeout, scoring six of the next seven to build a 23-18 lead. The Saints had one final rally in them, though, scoring three consecutive points to draw within a pair. In the end, though, it would not be enough as a Presentation attack error and a Lexi Kite kill wrapped up the match.
Seiler and Woog each had a match-high 10 kills, while Kite added seven kills and five digs. Woog also had four blocks (one solo). Siess led all McPherson players with 18 digs. Wallace had five kills, four block assists and four digs. Setters Little and Heinis had 18 assists apiece.
For Presentation, Olivia Stet had eight kills and three digs, while Kayla Wolfe added seven kills.
"Getting a pair of sweeps today was a great way to bounce back after the Saint Mary loss," said head coach
Jessica Cleveland. "Our energy was great on the court and bench. Bree Wallace and Lexi Kite led us in the Dakota State match, while Leia Seiler was our leader against Presentation. [Jamie] Siess did a great job digging hard, tall hitters. We finally found our rhythm and it's fun to sit back and relax as a coach as the team begins to embody McPherson College Volleyball!"
The Bulldogs (4-2) return to the court bright and early Saturday morning with an 8 a.m. match against Mayville State University (1-10) at the College of Saint Mary. A trip to Henry Doorly Zoo is on tap for the team following the match before closing with a 4 p.m. match against Briar Cliff University back at Grace University.
