Bison defeat Thiel in straight sets, 3-0

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

Oct. 25 - GREENVILLE, Pa. - Led by a match-high 15 kills by senior Dylana McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum), the Bethany College volleyball team earned a 3-0 win over Thiel Tuesday evening at the Beeghly Gymnasium.

The Bison improve to 21-11 overall, 14-2 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC). Meanwhile, the Tomcats fall to 5-11 in league play, 12-17 overall this season.

McKenzie finished with 15 kills and four digs to help the Bison take the match. Senior Dakota McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum), the reigning PAC Player of the Week, added 12 kills and a team-high four blocks in the win.

Senior setter Allie Powell (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) guided the offense with 34 assists, while freshman libero Maggie Merren (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) led the defensive efforts with 17 digs.

Thiel looked poised to take the first set. The Tomcats jumped out to a 19-12 lead, before Bethany rallied back. The Bison claimed six of the next eight points to pull within one point, 21-20. Thiel tallied the next two points to take a 23-20 edge, but kills by Dylana and Dakota McKenzie and helped the Bison take the set.

Bethany and Thiel played to an 8-8 score early on, but the Bison controlled play for the reminder of the second set to claim a 25-14 win. The Green & White limited the Tomcats to back-to-back points once and had point streaks of five, six and four to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Bison opened the third set with a 13-5 lead and held off a late comeback attempt by Thiel to complete the three-set sweep. The Tomcats trailed by scores of 19-12 and 23-18, before they trimmed the Bethany lead all the way down to two at 23-21. Dylana McKenzie collected kills on two of the next three points to secure the win for the Green & White.

Thiel was led by Lenora Boyer, who finished with 10 kills and four digs in the loss.

The Bison are back on the road on Thursday, October 27 when they head back to Mercer County to take on Grove City at 7 p.m.