Volleyball Still Perfect in the KCAC

By Drew Brunecz

 
In a tightly contested five set match, the McPherson College Volleyball defeated Ottawa 3-2, to bring their overall record to 20-1, and their record in the KCAC to 5-0.
 
The first set went to the Bulldogs rather handily 25-16. It was pretty tight at the beginning, with the score tied at 10-10 midway through the set. The Bulldogs went on a run, pulled ahead of the Braves, and never looked back. They closed out the set on a 15-6 run.
 
Ottawa took the second set, winning it 25-18. This set was much closer than the score would suggest, with 16 ties and almost as many lead changes. Staying with the back-and-forth theme, the Bulldogs took the third set, 25-19.
 
McPherson seemed almost unstoppable until the fourth set, when the Braves opened the game on 9-0 run before the Bulldogs could get on the scoreboard. McPherson made quite the push towards the end of the set, but fell short 25-18, raising the tension in the Sport Center. 
 
It was back and forth with the Bulldogs and Braves trading games, until it came down to the fifth set, and the final point. You could feel the excitement in the gym as Lexi Kite (Sr. Thornton, Colorado) lined up to serve the final point. The Bulldogs won in thrilling fashion, winning the fifth set 15-13. Kite led the Bulldogs in offense, with 19 total kills over the whole match.
 
Kaitlyn Heinis (Jr. Oviedo, Florida) was doing her part to get the ball to all of her teammates, recording a total of 24 assists. On defense, Bulldogs were led again by Jamie Siess (Jr. Tecumseh, Kansas) who had a total of 25.
 
"We fed off of the crowd's energy and used our fifth set confidence to finish off Ottawa", said McPherson head coach Jessica Cleveland. "Ottawa's Ayona Tharps was on fire but we were able to shut down all of their other avenues." Cleveland pointed out a couple of individual performers saying, "Lexi Kite kept our team alive with her consistency and Riley Bradbury was our go to gamer when It was crunch time. I'm proud of our perseverance and we hope to carry it to our next big match against Kansas Wesleyan on Saturday."
 
The Bulldogs will play twice this upcoming Saturday. They will begin the day by traveling to Salina, Kan., to play Kansas Wesleyan (18-5, 3-0), where they put their unbeaten conference mark on the line again. After their 1:00 pm match against the Coyotes, the Bulldogs will travel back to McPherson for a 5:00 pm non-conference matchup with the Texas Wesleyan University Rams (13-7, 8-2).