Volleyball dominates Chatham in Dig Pink match, 3-0

Oct. 13 – BETHANY, W.Va. – The Bethany College volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-7, 25-13) win over Chatham in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play Thursday night.

The Bison improve to 16-11 overall, 11-2 in the PAC. Meanwhile, the Cougars fall to 4-7 in league play, 8-16 overall this season.

Senior Dakota McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum) led the squad with 12 kills with a .550 hitting percentage. Her sister, senior Dylana McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum), finished with eight kills and senior Alexis Castro (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) rounded out the top Bison hitters with six kills (.400 hitting percentage).

The offense was once again guided by senior Allie Powell (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central), while freshman Maggie Merren (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) led the defense with 15 digs in the win.

Neither team established dominance early. The game was tied after the first 12 points, 6-6, when Bethany asserted itself in the match. The Bison tallied five-straight points, forcing a Cougar timeout, and maintained a lead of at least four throughout the remainder of the opening set. Chatham trailed 19-15, but Bethany closed out the set with a 6-2 run, capped off by kills from junior Sumayyah Muhammad (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding) and Dylana McKenzie.

The second set was dominated by Bethany. The Green and White opened the set with an 11-1 run, including a string of 10-straight points. Bethany did not take its foot off of the gas pedal. The Bison never allowed consecutive points to the Cougars and wrapped up the set with a 25-7 win. Bethany finished the set hitting .560 with 14 kills and zero errors on 25 attacks.

The Bison finished off the match with a 25-13 win in the third set. Bethany held leads of 11-4 and 21-9 before freshman Brooke Boyer (Canton, Ohio/Canton South) ended the match with a kill to give the Bison their 11th PAC win this season.

Chatham freshman Justyne Lasher led the Cougars with 14 kills and eight digs in the loss.

The match was a "Dig Pink" match with raffles, a serve competition and other fundraisers to support breast cancer awareness. All proceeds from tonight's match will be donated to the Side-Out Foundation for breast cancer research.

The Bison will take a break from their league slate with a pair of non-conference matches in Owings Mills, Maryland. Bethany will take on Rowan and Stockton in matches on the campus of Stevenson University, beginning at 3 p.m.