Volleyball claims wins over W&J, Waynesburg at tri-match

Oct. 5 – BETHANY, W.Va. – The Bethany College volleyball team collected a pair of Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) wins over Waynesburg and Washington & Jefferson Wednesday evening inside the Hummel Fieldhouse.

The Bison improve to 7-2 in the PAC, 12-11 overall. Bethany moves into sole possession of third place in the league standings at the halfway point in conference play. Geneva (10-1) and Thomas More (8-1) are in first and second, respectively.

BETHANY 3, Washington & Jefferson 2 (23-25, 25-14, 22-25, 25-23, 15-10)

The Bison rallied for a thrilling 3-2 win over Washington & Jefferson (14-5, 8-3 PAC) in the nightcap of the tri-match.

Senior Dylana McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum) led Bethany with 20 kills, while her twin-sister Dakota McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum) paced her effort with 18 kills and six blocks. Junior Sumayyah Muhammad (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding) also registered double-digit kills with 10 in the victory.

Senior Allie Powell (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) finished with a double-double, establishing a new season-high with 55 assists and adding 12 digs defensively. She was one of four Bison who turned in a double-digit dig total, with freshman Katie Sparks (Macedonia, Ohio/Trinity) tallying 21 to lead the team. Freshman libero Maggie Merren (Oregon, Ohio/Clay), sophomore Keili Terry (Leesburg, Va./Saint John's) and sophomore Reilly Parker (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) added 18, 17 and 10 digs respectively.

Washington & Jefferson got off to a fast start, establishing a 16-5 lead to open the first set. Bethany rallied back with a 17 of the next 23 points to even the match at 22-22 on a service ace by Parker. After the two teams traded points, the Presidents end the come-from-behind hopes of the Bison with a pair of kills to take a 1-0 lead.

The first set loss did not affect Bethany. They Bison responded with a 25-14 win to even the score in the second set. Washington & Jefferson was within as few as three points, 12-9, but the Bison pulled away with a 13-5 run, including the final six points of the set, to earn the win.

The Presidents rallied from behind in the third set to take a 2-1 lead in the game. The Bison maintained the lead for the majority of the set, including a 19-16 advantage. Washington & Jefferson claimed nine of the final 12 points, including five of the final six, to pull within one game of winning the match.

Washington & Jefferson raced out to a 6-1 lead in the fourth set, before Bethany notched nine-straight points on Sparks' serves to take a 10-6 advantage. The Bison maintained momentum from there, extending their lead to 20-13, but five-consecutive points for the Presidents trimmed the Bethany lead to two points. The two squads exchanged points before a pair of kills by Muhammad closed out the set and sent the match to a decisive final set.

After the two teams switched sides at 8-7, the Bison took command of the fifth set to earn the win. Muhammad tallied four of the team's final seven kills and a block by Dylana McKenzie and senior Alexis Castro (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) clinched the victory for the Green and White.

Bethany wrapped up the match with a .323 hitting percentage (11 kills, one error on 31 attacks) in the final set to secure the win.

Washington & Jefferson was led by Lexi Hilzendeger who finished with 18 kills in the loss.

BETHANY 3, Waynesburg 0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-18)

The Bison took care of Waynesburg (1-19, 0-13 PAC) in the opening match of the evening, 3-0, at the Hummel Fieldhouse.

Dakota McKenzie led the team with a match-high 12 kills with a .458 hitting percentage and five blocks (two solo). Dylana McKenzie and Muhammad each tallied six kills and Sparks added five to lead the Bison to the straight-set win..

Powell turned in an all-around effort with a team bests of 29 assists and seven digs, while Merren matched Powell with seven digs.

The Bison were dominant in their 25-10 first set win. The team raced out to an 11-3 lead before the Yellow Jackets took the first timeout of the match. Bethany continued to pour it on, closing out the set with 14 of the next 21 points. The Bison hit .375 in the set, a new single-set season-high.

Bethany maintained momentum in the second set. The Bison jumped out to a 13-3 lead before Waynesburg took a timeout and countered with a quick 6-2 spurt to pull within six points at 15-9. Bethany reestablished itself over the final 14 points of the set, going on a 10-4 run, including a string of five-straight points, to claim a 25-13 win.

The script remained the same in the third set to close out the victory. The Bison took control early and led by as many as seven at 18-11, before Waynesburg attempted to rally. The Yellow Jackets strung a few points together to cut the Bison lead to six at 24-18, but a service error ended any comeback hopes.

The Bison finished with 38 kills and 12 errors on 82 attacks to establish a new season-best .317 hitting percentage in the match.

Waynesburg's Jordan Wyllie led the Yellow Jackets with eight kills in the loss.

Bethany is back in action this Saturday, October 8 when they head to New Wilmington, Pennsylvania for a tri-match with Mercer County foes Westminster and Grove City. The match with Grove City will begin at 1 p.m.