Dylana McKenzie Sets All-Time Kills Record in Tournament Split

Sept. 10 - BEREA, Ohio - The Bethany volleyball team split their matches today, sweeping Denison 3-0 before losing in five sets to Case Western. During the Case Western Match, Dylana McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio /West Muskingum) became the school's new all-time kills leader.

In the first match, the two teams battled back-and-forth early. With the math knotted at 13 in the first set, the Bison rattled off a 7-2 run to go up 20-15. From there, Alexis Castro (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) would pick up two kills to help capture the first set, 25-19.

The second set saw a battle between the two sides. At eight different parts of the set, the score was tied, with the final tie sitting at 18 apiece. From there, Bethany rallied for another 7-2 run thanks in part to kills by McKenzie and Castro along with a few errors from their opponents to take the set 25-20. 

In the third and final set, it started out much like the first two. With both teams trading points to a 10-10 tie, Bethany would then pounce on the opportunity for more.

With Allie Powell's serving, she kickstarted a 10-3 run for the Bison that was capped off with aDakota McKenzie kill to pit the score at 20-13. From there the Bison would cruise to the set and match victory

In the first set of the Case Western match, senior Dylana McKenzie gave the Bison the 6-4 lead with her 1, 290th kill of her career, setting a new all-time Bethany College record.

That kill would help set the tone for the ​rest of the set as the Bison used a balanced attack to cap off small runs to slowly put the Spartans away.

In the second set, the two sides each used small runs in another back-and-forth effort. The Green and White would take the 13-11 lead courtesy of a Castro kill. Shortly after, the two game would tie at 16 before CW would use their offensive momentum to take the set, 25-22.

After Case led the entire third set, capturing it 25-18, Bethany needed to win the fourth set to stay alive. 

After Case got out to an early 8-5 lead, the Bison went off for five straight points to take the lead to put them in a good position. However, Case would not go unanswered, regaining the lead shortly after. 

With the score at 24-21, Bethany got a jolt on offense, getting kills from Castro and Dakota McKenzie ((Hopewell, Ohio /West Muskingum)) along with a service ace to capture the set and keep the Green and White's hopes alive. 

The fifth set saw Case leading the whole way, taking it 15-6.

In the second day of the Marcia French Tournament, Bethany was led offensively by Dylana who tallied 32 total kills, followed by Castro with 28.

On the defensive side, Reilly Parker (Irwin, Pa./Norwin​) picked up 50 digs while Dakota McKenzie also tallied 32 digs.

With the split, Bethany's record sits at 3-5 before they enter the home portion of the 2016 schedule on Tuesday hosting a tri-match between Geneva and Thiel, with the first match set to begin at 4:00p.m.