Volleyball downs Geneva, 3-1

Oct. 19 - BEAVER FALLS, Pa. - Paced by a assist-dig double-double by senior Allie Powell (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central), the Bison earned a 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21) win over Geneva in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play Wednesday night.

The Bethany College volleyball team improves to 12-2 in league play, 19-11 overall, and takes sole possession of second place in the PAC standings with its second win over Geneva this season. Meanwhile, the Golden Tornadoes fall to 12-2 in the PAC, 18-7 overall.

Powell, the reigning PAC Player of the Week, registered a double-double with 51 assists and 15 digs in the win. 

Three Bison tallied double-digit kills, led by senior Dylana McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum) who finished with a match-high 17 kills to lead Bethany. Her twin-sister, senior Dakota McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum) and junior Sumayyah Muhammad (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding) each recorded 14 kills in the team's victory.

Freshman Maggie Merren (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) led five Bison who posted double-digit digs with 30, her highest single-game total since she tallied 32 in the team's season-opener. Along with Merren and Powell, sophomores Keili Terry (Leesburg, Va./Saint John's) tallied 14 digs, while sophomore Reilly Parker(Irwin, Pa./Norwin) and freshman Katie Sparks (Macedonia, Ohio/Trinity) finished with 13, apiece. Senior Alexis Castro (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) led the squad up-front with six blocks in the win.

All four sets were closely contested. Bethany led the opening set 15-14, before it took seven of the next 10 points to take a 22-17 lead. Geneva answered with three-straight points, but a kill by Muhammad and back-to-back blocks closed out the set for the Green and White.

The Bison scored the first point of the second set, but did not hold the lead at any other point. Geneva  opened up a 7-2 lead that forced a Bethany timeout and maintained the lead until the set was tied at 17 all. The Golden Tornadoes rebuilt their lead to four, 22-18, and held off a late rally from the Bison to tie the match.

Bethany returned the favor in the third set, racing out to a 7-2 lead to force a Geneva timeout. The Golden Tornadoes answered back with six-unanswered points to take a 8-7 lead and increased their lead to four at 16-12. Following a Bison timeout, the Green and White closed out the set with a 12-7 run to take a 2-1 edge in the match.

Bethany never trailed in the the fourth set to claim the win. After the Bison opened up a 10-4 lead, Geneva responded with seven of the next eight points to tie the match at 11. The Green and White rebuilt its lead with the next five points and won nine of the final 15 rallies to secure the team's 12th win in conference play.

Geneva was led by Marissa Naples who finished with 15 kills in the team's loss.

The Bison are back on the court this Saturday, Oct. 22 when they host league-leading Thomas More at 1 p.m.