Hutchinson, Kan. – The McPherson College volleyball team got their 2019 season underway on Friday with a pair of matches down at the Hutch Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kansas, as part of the third annual KCAC Fall Fling. The Bulldogs drew Morningside College out of the Great Plains Athletic Conference in their opening match, then finished the day against Oklahoma Panhandle State University from the Sooner Athletic Conference.
The Morningside Mustangs are a quality team from a strong conference, and that coupled with what appeared to be some early season jitters from the Bulldogs, proved to be their undoing. Despite having the lead in all three sets, the Bulldogs wound up falling to the Mustangs in straight sets, 25-22, 25-16, and 26-24.
The statistical leaders for the Bulldogs were:
Kills: Riley Bradbury (Jr. Castle Rock, Colo.) – 9
Aces: Bradbury and Skylar Lane (Jr. Castle Rock, Colo.) – 1
Blocks: Sydney Burton (Jr. Stilwell, Kan.) – 2
Assists: Lane – 15
Digs: Jamie Siess (Sr. Topeka, Kan.) – 15
In the 1 pm match with the OPSU Aggies, the Bulldog ladies looked like a completely different team. They came out wearing their new black uniforms, trimmed in red, looking sharp, and they played the way they looked. The dominated the Aggies, sweeping them in just under an hour, 25-7, 25-11, 25-17.
Statistical leaders against the Aggies:
Kills: Rradbury – 9
Aces: Lane and Jules Yanez (Jr. Wichita, Kan.) - 2
Blocks: Burton, Mady Woog (Jr. Wichita, Kan.), and Bree Wallace (Sr. Wichita, Kan.) – 2
Assists: Lane – 18
Digs: Siess – 11
First year head coach,
Cory Cahill, who picked up his first career win on Friday, summed up his teams' performance by saying, "Overall today was a major step forward for our program. We are still figuring things out, gaining confidence, and starting to mesh. It's always great to see immediate improvement from one match to the next and that is exactly what we saw today. If we can continue to grow and learn as a family, the sky is the limit for this group."
The Bulldogs will try and improve on their 1-1 record on Saturday when they wrap up the Fall Fling against William Penn University out of the Heart of America Conference, and Randall University, an NCCAA DII school. The Bulldogs will play back to back on Saturday, starting at 5 p.m. against WPU then wrapping things up with Randall at 7 p.m. The games will be streamed online at
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/kcac/.
