Bison move into first-place with win over Thomas More, 3-1

Oct. 22 – BETHANY, W.Va. – Led by a season-high 25 kills by senior Dakota McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum), the Bison recorded a 3-1 win over Thomas More (25-21, 27-25, 12-25, 25-22) in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) match between the league's top-two teams Saturday afternoon.

The victory improves the Bethany College volleyball team to 20-11 overall, and gives it the lead in the PAC at 13-2 in conference play. Meanwhile, the Saints fall to 13-2 in league play, 16-9 overall this season. The Bison hold the tie-breaker by defeating Thomas More in four sets. The Saints claimed a 3-2 win in the meeting in Kentucky earlier this season.

McKenzie finished the match with 25 kills on 57 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage. Senior Dylana McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum) paced her sister's effort with 14 kills on 29 attacks (.345 hitting percentage), while senior Allie Powell (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) totaled 39 assists in the win.

A trio of Bison registered double-digit digs, with freshman Maggie Merren (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) leading the way with 25. Sophomore Keili Terry (Leesburg, Va./Saint John's) and freshman Katie Sparks(Macedonia, Ohio/Trinity) added dig totals of 14 and 12, respectively.

Thomas More took early control of the first set. The Saints held leads of 7-2 and 17-12 before the Bison stormed back. Bethany claimed seven of the next eight points to take a 19-18 lead and recorded the final five points in the set to win 25-21. With the Saints ahead 21-20, Bethany tallied a trio of kills and were aided by Thomas More ball handling and attack errors that closed out the set.

The Bison opened up a 16-9 lead in the second set, but a comeback by the Saints tied the game at 22 and forced a Bethany timeout. Thomas More reached set-point at 25-24, but kills by Dakota McKenzie, junior Sumayyah Muhammad (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding) and Dylana McKenzie, consecutively, gave the Green & White a 27-25 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Thomas More recovered and convincingly won the third set, 25-12. After falling behind 5-1 to start the set, Bethany rallied back to take an 8-7 lead. The Saints took control from there, winning 10-straight points to assume command and trim the Bison lead to 2-1 in the match.

The fourth set saw 12 tie scores and numerous lead changes, before Bethany finished off the match with five-unanswered points to claim the win. After the Bison tied the match at 19, Thomas More recorded kills on three of the next four rallies to take a 22-20 lead. The Saints committed attack errors on the next three points, combined with a kill by Dakota McKenzie put the Bison a point away from the win. Senior Alexis Castro (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) clinched the match on the next point with a kill that vaulted the Green & White to the top of the PAC standings.

Thomas More's Paige Noday led the Saints with 17 kills, while setter Alli Borders recorded 49 assists in the loss.

The Bison control its own destiny with one week remaining in the regular-season. If Bethany wins its next three matches it will be in position to host the PAC Championships. The Bison will begin the week on Tuesday, October 25 when they head to Greenville, Pennsylvania on to take on Thiel at 7 p.m.