McPherson, KS – The McPherson College volleyball team extended their current winning streak to 11 games with a pair of wins on Saturday over Kansas Wesleyan University and Texas Wesleyan University. More importantly, with their win over the Coyotes, in the opening match of the day, they remained perfect in the conference, and are now the only remaining undefeated team in the KCAC.
As they have done in their past three conference matches, the Bulldogs had to go the distance in order to defeat the Coyotes on their home floor. The Mac ladies opened the match, by winning a close first set, 25-23. The Coyotes turned up the head in the second set, coming back to even the match by winning the set 25-16. It looked like the Coyotes would take a 2 sets to 1 lead as they led the Bulldogs 19-13 late in set 3. But the experience of the Bulldogs showed up, and they rallied to take the set 25-23.
The fourth set was a different story for the Bulldogs. Like the 3
rd set, they got down big late in the set, but this time they were unable mount a comeback, and the set went to the Coyotes. So for the 4
th conference match in a row, the Bulldogs would have to play a 5
th and deciding set to keep the streak alive. Fifth sets seem to have become old hat for this Bulldog team, and it seems to bring out the best of them. They took control of the set early, and never looked back. They had an 8-6 lead when the teams traded ends, and then finished off the set on a 7-4 run to take the set 15-10.
On offense, it wasn't a great match, at least from a hitting percentage stand point. The Bulldogs managed to rack up 67 total kills on 229 attack attempts, but they had 31 attack errors, which brought their hitting percentage down to .157. They had a trio of players in double figures in kills, led by
Leia Seiler (Sr. Fort Lupton, Colo.) who had 19. She was joined in double figures by
Riley Bradbury (Jr. Highlands Ranch, Colo.) with 17, and
Bree Wallace (Jr. Wichita, Kan.) who had 12.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs went over the century mark in digs with 115, the 7
th time this season they have reached that plateau. Five Bulldogs recorded double digit dig totals, led by
Lexi Kite (Sr. Thornton, Colo.) with 33. Also in double figures were
Jamie Siess (Jr. Tecumseh, Kan.) with 24,
Rianne Richard (Sr. Wichita, Kan.) with 14,
Kaitlyn Heinis (Jr. Oviedo, Fla.) with 13, and
Skylar Lane (So. Castle Pines, Colo.) who chipped in 10.
After taking down the Coyotes on their home floor, in Salina, Kansas, the Bulldogs hopped in the vans and headed back to the friendly confines of the Sport Center, to wrap up the day with a non-conference match against the Texas Wesleyan University Rams. The Rams were in town for a Sooner Athletic Conference matchup with Central Christian College, and before making the long trip back to Ft. Worth, Texas, they stopped by the Sport Center to try and complete the sweep of McPherson schools.
The Bulldogs got off to a sluggish start against the Rams, maybe still feeling the effects of the 5 setter against KWU just a few hours earlier. Whatever the cause, they dropped the opening set to the Rams 25-19. The opening set loss must have woke them up, because they came out in the second set, and steamrolled the Rams 25-15. They kept the pressure on in the 3
rd set, and came out on top 25-21. The 4
th set was a back and forth affair. Neither team was able to gain more than a two point lead for much of the set. Late in the 4
th, the Rams started to pull away, taking a 22-18 lead and then maintaining that lead down the stretch 24-20.
Facing four set points, the Bulldog ladies rallied. They scored 4 unanswered points, to tie the game at 24-24, but then lost the next point to face a 5
th set point for the Rams. The Bulldogs got their first look at a match point, after a kill by Bradbury put them up 27-26. Unfortunately the Rams still had some fight in them, and they squared the set at 27 on the next point. That would be as close as the Rams would get. A kill by Wallace, put the Bulldogs up 28-27, and then after a long rally, an attacking error by the Rams' libero, the set ended 29-27 in favor of the Bulldogs, and they won the match 3-1.
This time the offense was led by Kite with 14 kills on 44 swings.
Devrie Sombers (Sr. Colorado Springs, Colo.) had a nice match in the middle. She hit .462 in the match, with 7 kills on 13 attempts, and just one attack error. Siess anchored the Bulldog back row, and came away with 17 defensive digs. At the net, Mac recorded 6 team block, five assisted, and one solo block. Sombers led the team in blocks with three.
With the wins, the Bulldogs are now 22-1 overall on the year, and the win over KWU makes them 6-0 in the KCAC. They will get a much needed break, taking the next 11 days off. They will be back on the hardwood on October 17
th where they will put that perfect KCAC mark on the line at home against the Bethany College Swedes. First serve is slated for 7:00 pm in the Sport Center.
