Bulldogs Lose Thriller to Swedes in Home Opener

Article by Quincy Williams
Photo by Micah Gilbert

McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College volleyball team played their home opener on Wednesday night, welcoming the Bethany College Swedes to the Sport Center for a 7 p.m. matchup.

The intra-county rivalry game against the Swedes started slowly for the Bulldogs. This early hole contributed to their fifth loss of the season (4-5). The Swedes were able to win the first two sets 25-21, and 25-20 due to great service and sharp rallies. The Bulldogs roared back in the next two sets winning 25-22 in the third and 25-12 in a particularly dominant fourth set led by ferocious blocks and pinpoint kills.

The raucous crowd cheered McPherson on into the fifth set where they gained, then maintained a lead, at one point being only two points away from clinching the game. The Swedes had other ideas and ran off four straight points to win the game 15-13.

In a tight match, the Bulldogs trailed the Swedes by only 6 in kills and, in fact, committed ten less errors on kill attempts. Both teams were tied in service aces and the Bulldogs had nine blocks to the Swedes five. Mady Woog (Jr. Wichita, Kan.) was quite sharp on her kill attempts going 8 for 14 for a 35.7% conversion rate. The difference between the two teams was inches and a couple of fortuitous bounces.

Statistical Leaders included:

Kills:  Riley Bradbury (Jr. Castle Rock, Colo.) – 9
Aces:  Bradbury – 2
Blocks: Bree Wallace (Sr. Wichita, Kan.) – 2
Assists:  Skylar Lane (Jr. Castle Rock, Colo.) – 28
Digs:   Jamie Siess (Sr. Topeka, Kan.) – 24

Coach Cahill said after the game, "Tonight was a tough lesson. Our serve and pass broke down at the wrong times and our offense struggled to get going because of it. Bethany did a great job of taking advantage of our mistakes and in turn earned a great win."
 
Though the teams are in the KCAC conference, this was actually a non-conference contest. The Bulldogs next game is in Hastings, Nebraska, on Saturday in the "Five Points Bank Classic" hosted by Hastings College. They will play Roosevelt University in the first match at 11 a.m. and Hastings in the afternoon match at 3.