Bethany Volleyball Downs Westminster 3-1
Oct. 13- BETHANY, W. Va. – The Bethany College volleyball team defeated Westminster, 3-1, on Tuesday night in Presidents' Athletic Conference action. The Green & White extended their win streak to five consecutive matches.
The first game started evenly as both teams were knotted at six. Bethany (20-7, 10-2 PAC) then went on a 6-1 run that was capped off with an ace from Mackenzie Lauber (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison Mansfield) to force a Westminster (7-20, 4-7 PAC) timeout. The Green & White extended their lead to as many as nine (23-14) in the set, ultimately taking game one, 25-16. The Bison hit .378 as juniors Dylana McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum) and Arielle Sanders (Maple Heights, Ohio/Maple Heights) led Bethany in kills, totaling seven and four, respectively.
In the second set, the Bison opened with a 10-6 run. Bethany pushed their lead to 15-8 as senior Julia Mouch (Toledo, Ohio/Sylvania Southview) aced the Titan defense to force a Westminster timeout. With the Bison leading 24-20, Alexis Castro (Lorain, Ohio/LDylana McKenziehe ball off a Titan for the game-winning point. Dylana McKenzie, Sanders and Castro tallied four kills each.
The Titans jumped out to an early lead in the third set. The Bison made it a 13-16 contest after Castro had consecutive kills, but that was as close as the Green & White would get. Bethany put together a late run before Westminster took game three by a score of 25-23.
Bethany began game four with a 6-2 run. The Bison extended their lead to 9-3 as the Titans called a timeout. Westminster battled back to make it 17-15, but the Bison overpowered the Titans late with a 5-1 run. Bethany would win the deciding set, 25-21, taking the match by a 3-1 score. The Bison defense held the Titans to a -.022 hitting percentage in the game. Bethany totDylana McKenzie the set, led by seven from Keili Terry (Leesburg, Va./Saint Johns).
Offensively, the Bison were led by Dylana McKenzie with 19 kills. Castro added 10 of her own, while Dakota McKenzie and Sanders collected nine, each. Setter Allie Powell (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) dished out a season-high 28 assists in the match.
On the defensive side, Bethany finished with 85 digs, as four different players notched at least 10. Mouch led theDakota McKenziee-high 18 digs. Parker added 16 of her own with Dakota McKenzie and Terry recording 10 as well.
The Bethany College volleyball team will return to action on Thursday, October 15 as they travel to Crestview Hills, Ky. to take on Thomas More at 7:00 p.m.
