Bethany Volleyball Drops Two on First Day of CMU Tournament

Sept. 23 - PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Bethany volleyball team dropped both matches in the first day of the Carnegie Mellon DoubleTree Invitational. First they fell to the host Carnegie Mellon 3-0 before dropping their second match 3-0 to John Carroll.

Early In the first set, the Bison were helped by attack errors at the hands of the host Tartans. Bethany found themselves down three (9-6) before a string of five consecutive errors by CMU to put the visitors up 11-9.

The Tartans would quickly regain composure taking an 18-14 lead. Bethany would draw back within two with kills by Reilly Parker (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) and Katie Sparks (Macedonia, Ohio / Trinity High School); however, CMU would never give up the lead, taking the first set 25-20.

The Bison got head early in the second set with 5-2 lead when Summayah Muhammad (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding) picked up two kills while Alexis Castro (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) and Dakota McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio /West Muskingum) each tallied one.

After CMU went on a 9-2 run to take the 11-7 lead, Bethany would stay composed, never trailing by more than four. Moments later with the Tartans leading 20-15, Bethany rallied off four straight points, including kills by Muhammad and Castro. 

The hosts surged to pull away again, taking the four point lead at 24-20 before McKenzie led the Bison's charge back with two service aces to tie it at 24, forcing a CMU timeout. Out of the timeout, Carnegie Mellon would take the next two points to capture the second set 26-24.

In the third set, CMU took a commanding 13-2 lead. Later in the match, a Dylana McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio /West Muskingum) kill drew the Bison back within 10 but the Tartans would not let it get any closer, winning 25-13 to sweep the match.

In the match, Arielle Sanders (Maple Heights, Ohio/Maple Heights) led the team with eight kills while Allie Powell (Indianapolis, Ind. /Lawrence Central) totaled 22 assists. 

The first set against John Carroll, the Bison found themselves down 14-6 early after two lengthy runs for JCU. From there Bethany would fight back.

Thanks in part to two kills by Dakota McKenzie and one kill by Dylana McKenzie and Sanders drew the Bison back within four at 17-13. However, the closest Bethany would come the rest of the set was three after an ace by Parker to make it 23-20 before JCU took the set 25-20.

The Blue streaks carried that momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 9-2 lead. Bethany then used a 12-5 run led by three kills from Dylana McKenzie and Castro, to tie the set at 14.

The Bison battled to a score of 20-18 before a JCU timeout. Coming out of the huddle, Dylana McKenzie picked up a kill and following a JCU attack error, Parker would tally an ace before The Streaks would take the second set 25-21.

John Carroll jumped ahead in the third set and would never trail. In the middle of the action, Bethany trailed by two (11-9) before The Blue Streaks rallied off a 14-3 run to capture the set 25-12 to complete the sweep.

For the match, Bethany was led by Dylana McKenzie with 11 kills followed by Dakota McKenzie with nine. Powell totaled 18 assists in the second match, giving her 40 for the day. Emily Duke (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville) also added 10 assists in the JCU match.

With the two losses, Bethany now sits at 7-8 on the season. They are back for the second day of the CMU Tournament on Saturday. Their first match is at 1p.m. against Randolph Macon before they battle with Arcadia shortly after.