Bison Volleyball Opens 2015 with Split at Purple Raider Classic
Sept. 4 – BETHANY, W. Va. The Bethany College volleyball team (1-1) earned a split in their first two games at the Purple Raider Classic hosted by the University of Mount Union on Friday evening. The Bison defeated Denison University, 3-0, before falling 3-2 to Ohio Wesleyan University.
The Bison opened the 2015 season with a straight-set victory over Denison. The Green & White captured the first game by a score of 25-20. Bethany then took the match, winning set two by a 25-17 score, and capturing game three 25-22.
Both the Bison and the Big Red came out tough on the offensive front in set one with each team hitting over .300 in the game. Bethany started red hot, hitting .452 in the set, led by five kills from Dylana McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum).
The first set went back-and –forth and saw seven ties through the first 13 points. From that point the Bison used a three-point swing, including kills by McKenzie and Sumayyah Muhammad (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding), and an ace by Dakota McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum). The ace gave the Green & White a 16-13 lead. Bethany would extend the lead to as many as five points (22-17) before going on for the 25-20 win.
In set two, the Bison locked down defensively, holding the Big Red to a .080 hitting percentage in the game, en route to a 25-17 win. The Green & White tallied five team blocks in the set, including solo blocks by both Muhammad and Sanders. The middle blocker duo also led the way offensively, each tallying three kills.
Set three was by far the closest of the three as the two programs found themselves tied 15 times in the set. The Bison bookended the game with identical 3-0 runs to provide the difference in the deciding set. With the score tied at 22-22, the Green & White scored the final three points, including the final kill by Muhammad to put the game away at 25-22. In the third set, Dylana McKenziehb">Alexis Castro (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) and Dylana McKenzie led the Bison with four kills each.
Overall in the three-game sweep, the Bison hit .221, while holding the Big Red to a .156 hitting percentage. Defensively, Bethany totaled 8.0 blocks while recording 42 digs. Freshman Reilly Parker (Irwin, Dylana McKenziee the first start of her career at libero and finished the match with a team-high 19 digs.
Offensively, Dylana McKenzie paced the BiDakota McKenzieills. Castro finished the day with eight, while Dakota McKenzie had seven. Senior setter Mackenzie Lauber (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison) tallied 20 assists while junior Allie Powell (Indianapolis, Ind. /Lawrence Central) finished with 13.
The second match up the day saw a bit more action as the Bison were pushed to the brink by the Battling Bishops, eventually falling 3-2 to Ohio Wesleyan.
The two programs traded the first four matches of the contest with OWU taking sets one and three. The Battling Bishops took their sets by identical 25-19 scores. The Green & White battled back each time, taking set two, 25-21, and set four, 25-23.
In the pivotal set five, the Bison found themselves down by a 4-0 score early, which prompted a quick timeout from ninth-year head coach Courtney Kline. Bethany would respond with a 4-1 run, which included a service ace from Mouch and a kill by Castro, to knot the game at 5-5.
The team's would then trade points, tying four times over the next eight points, with the last tie coming at 9-9 on a kill by Muhammad. From there, however, Ohio Wesleyan would outscore the Bison by a 5-1 score to take the game 15-10 and hand the Bison a 3-2 defeat.
Offensively for the Bison, Mouch led the way, posting a career-high 16 kills while committing just one error for a hitting percentage of .556. She also added 17 dDakota McKenzieh, giving her her first double-double of the season. Other offensive leaders for Bethany in the match included Dakota McKenzie with 14 kills and Castro with 11.
Lauber led the team with 31 assists in the match while Powell totaled 21. Parker once again showed her prowess on the defensive side, tallying the first 20-dig game of her career (21). As a whole, the team notched 11.0 total blocks, including a career-high six block assists from Muhammad.
The Bison will be back in action on Saturday, September 5, as they participate in the second day of the Purple Raider Classic. The Green & White will take on Trine University at 10 a.m. with a contest with the host Purple Raiders slated for noon.
