Hutchinson, Kan. – The McPherson College volleyball team, ranked 17
th in the latest NAIA top 25 poll, and fresh off their regular season KCAC championship, kicked off the KCAC tournament with a quarterfinal win over the Tabor College Blue Jays on Friday evening at the Hutch Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kansas.
The Bulldogs, who were seeded No. 1 in the tournament, and drew a 1
st round bye, squared off against the 9
th seeded Blue Jays, who had knocked off the Bethany College in five sets, in the round before. The Mac ladies needed just three sets to dispatch the Blue Jays on Friday, winning 25-15, 25-21, 25-21, in a little over an hour.
The Bulldogs were led on the offensive front by
Lexi Kite (Sr. Thornton, Colo.), who was named KCAC Player of the Year earlier this week. She led the Bulldogs with 13 kills on 28 attempts and 5 errors, for a .286 hitting percentage.
Bree Wallace (So. Wichita, Kan.), fresh off her first selection to the KCAC All-Conference Team, had a big night for the Bulldogs offensively as well. She hit .357 with 12 kills on 28 swings, and only 2 errors.
On defense, the Bulldogs were led by KCAC Libero of the Year,
Jamie Siess (Jr. Tecumseh, Kan.), who was all over the floor, recording 19 defensive digs and dishing out 3 assists. On the block,
Devrie Sombers (Sr. Colorado Springs, Colo.), also voted to the All-Conference Team this year, assisted on 5 of the 6 Bulldog blocks.
With the win, Bulldogs move to 31-1 on the year, and are one step closer to adding a conference tournament championship to their resume. They will take the next step tomorrow morning at 11:00 am when they take on the No. 4 seed University of Saint Mary Spires in the conference semifinals. The other semifinal consists of the No. 6 seed Friends University Falcons, who upset the 3
rd seeded Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes, 3-1 in the quarterfinals, and the 2
nd seeded Ottawa University Braves, who knocked off Southwestern University in straight sets, in their quarterfinal match.
Should they make it past Saint Mary, the Bulldogs would play in the finals at 6:00 pm. Both matches tomorrow can be seen live online (for a fee), at
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/kcac/.
