Volleyball claims first PAC Championship, 3-1

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

Nov. 5 – BETHANY, W.Va. – The Bethany College volleyball team defeated Thomas More 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 20-25, 26-24) in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Match to secure the program's first-ever PAC Title and NCAA berth.

The Bison improve to 25-11 overall and earn the PAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Bethany will learn its seeding during the NCAA Division III Volleyball Selection Show on NCAA.com on Monday, November 7 at 12:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Saints end the season at 21-10 overall, while being denied a fifth-straight PAC Championship.

Senior Dakota McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum) led Bethany with 22 kills and added six digs. Senior Dylana McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum) paced her twin-sister's effort with 15 kills, while senior setter Allie Powell (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) recorded a double-double with 52 assists and 10 digs in the championship clinching win.

Four Bison, including Powell, registered double-digit digs, with freshman Maggie Merren (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) tallying a game-high 25 to lead the squad. Sophomores Keili Terry (Leesburg, Va./Saint John's) and Reilly Parker (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) added 13 and 10 digs, respectively.

Thomas More led 9-7 in the first set, before the Bison went on to win 12 of the next 13 points, including five kills from Dakota McKenzie, to take a 19-10 lead. The Saints strung points together to pull within four at 23-19, but a kill by Dylana McKenzie and a block by senior Alexis Castro (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) and freshman Katie Sparks (Macedonia, Ohio/Trinity) ended the set.

The two team's exchanged points early in the second set and were tied 6-6 when Thomas More picked up four-straight points to take a 10-6 lead and force a timeout. Bethany stormed back with a 10-3 run to take a 16-13 lead, but the Saints responded. Thomas More rolled off six-consecutive points to take a 19-16 lead, forcing Bethany Head Coach Courtney Kline to burn another timeout. The Green & White rallied back with four of the next five points to even the score at 20-20. The Bison earned the next four points and Dylana McKenzie put the finishing touches on a 2-0 lead with a kill to send the Hummel Fieldhouse faithful into a frenzy.

Thomas More remained composed and picked up a 25-20 win in the third set to force a fourth frame.

Bethany raced out to leads of 9-5 and 12-6 early in the fourth set, but the four-time defending league champion Saints managed to claw back into the set and eventually took a 19-18 lead. The Bison answered with five of the next six points to take a 23-20 lead and stand two points away from a victory. Once again Thomas More showed its resiliency and tied the set at 24 all.

However the night belonged to Bethany. The Saints committed an attack error and junior Sumayyah Muhammad (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding) found an opening in the middle of the court and smacked home the championship-clinching point to secure the PAC Title.

Thomas More was led in defeat by Marisa Meyer who tallied 17 kills on 49 attacks with seven errors.

Bethany will learn its seeding for its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance on Monday, November 7 at 12:30 p.m. during the NCAA Division III Volleyball selection show, which can be streamed on NCAA.com.