Hutchinson, Kan. – It has been a magical season for the McPherson College volleyball team. Entering the KCAC tournament this season, they had just one loss on the year, and they had gone a perfect 12-0 in conference play to win the KCAC regular season championship, earning themselves a berth in the NAIA National Tournament, a first for the program.
However, they came up just a little bit short of their goal of sweeping both the regular season and conference tournament titles, losing on Saturday evening 3-1 in the tournament championship to the Ottawa University Braves.
The Bulldogs got to the championship by sweeping the University of Saint Mary Spires in the morning's semi-final match. The ladies dominated the 4
th seeded Spires, winning 25-15, 25-13, 25-11.
Lexi Kite (Sr. Thornton, Colo.) led the Bulldog offense, hitting .346 with 10 kills on 26 attack attempts and only 1 error.
Bree Wallace (So. Wichita, Kan.), also hit .346, but with 9 kills on 26 swings and 0 errors.
On defense, the Bulldogs recorded 65 defensive digs, and 12.5 blocks.
Jamie Siess (Jr. Tecumseh, Kan.) was the team's leader in digs with 19, while
Mady Woog (So. Highlands Ranch, Colo.) led the Bulldogs with 5 assisted blocks, and one solo.
At 6:00 pm, the Bulldogs took the floor again in the championship match with the OU Braves. Things started out well, for the top seed, as they took the opening set 25-19, racking up 12 kills on 52 attempts. The second set was also closely contested, but dug themselves a slight hole early in the set, and they were unable to close the gap in the end. They ended up dropping the set 25-22.
In the third set, they once again got down early to the Braves, but this time it was a much larger deficit. The Braves opened up the set on a 13-2 run, and never looked back. The Bulldogs tried to make a run late in the set, but couldn't close the gap, and wound up dropping the set 25-15. In the fourth set, the Bulldogs looked focused, and their play showed it.
They jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead, and then held the four point spread for most of the set. The Bulldogs had three set points at 24-21, but the Braves went on a 4-0 run to take a 25-24 lead. The Bulldogs tied the game at 25 on a kill by
Leia Seiler (Sr. Fort Lupton, Colo.). A kill by the Braves on the next Bulldog serve put them up 26-25. The Braves got another chance to serve for the match. The Bulldogs had two chances to win the point on attacks, but each time the Braves were in the right position to dig the ball up. On the Braves second attack attempt in the point, they finished off the Bulldogs on a kill by their top player, Ayona Tharps, who finished the match with 20 kills.
Kite, Seiler, and
Riley Bradbury (So. Highlands Ranch, Colo.), all finished with double digit kill totals for the Bulldogs. Kite led the team with 15, while Bradbury tallied 11, and Seiler finished with 10. Siess was once again the Bulldogs' leader in defensive digs. She finished the match with a game high 27.
Devrie Sombers (Sr. Colorado Springs, Colo.) was a force at the net for the Bulldogs defensively. She assisted on six of the Bulldogs' ten blocks, and also had a solo block.
After the loss, the Bulldogs are no 32-2 on the year. They know they have already clinched a spot in the NAIA national tournament, but what they don't know is if they will get an opening round bye. Teams ranked in the top 20 in the final top 25 poll receive an opening round bye. The Bulldogs entered the tournament ranked 17
th and their loss on Saturday evening was to the 24
th ranked team in the nation. There is a good chance they will remain in the top 20, but they won't know for sure until Monday morning at 10:00 am when the tournament field is released.
