Bethany Clinches PAC Championship Title With Sweep Over Westminster

Bethany Clinches PAC Championship Title With Sweep Over Westminster

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (BethanyBison.com) - For the second time in program history, the Bethany College volleyball team has been named the President's Athletic Conference Champions after sweeping top-seeded Westminster College, 3-0, inside Buzz Ridl Gymnasium, Saturday afternoon, Nov. 3. The last conference championship win for Bethany was back in 2016 when the Green and White defeated Thomas Moore, 3-1, Nov. 5. With the win, the Bison have earned an automatic qualification bid for the NCAA Championship Tournament.

THE MATCHUP

  • Final: Bethany 3, Westminster 0 (28-26, 25-14, 25-21) | Box Score

  • Records: Bethany (22-9, 13-3 PAC), Westminster (30-3, 15-1 PAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Bison opened the day with a 4-1 run, but the three point lead would be the largest of the set for the Green and White as the Titans kept themselves within two until knotting the score at 20 apiece. The two teams continued to trade points as the score was tied up five times before a kill by junior Lindsey Llewellyn (Vermilion, Ohio/Norwalk St. Paul) and a Titan attacking error gave Bethany the first set, 28-26.

  • In the second set, the Green and White hit at a blistering .333 clip, while holding its opponent to a -.031 hitting percentage. Bethany raced to an early 10-5 lead, forcing Westminster to burn a timeout. The Bison did not let up as they pushed their lead to as much as eight, 22-14, before a pair of Titan attacking errors and an ace off the hand of senior Emily Duke (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville) sealed the 25-14 set win.

  • Bethany tallied a game high 18 kills in the final set to hit at a .222 percentage. The Bison battled with the Titans as the lead was exchanged five times before a Llewellyn kill broke the 21-21 tie in favor of Bethany. Freshman Alexis Swan's (New Cumberland, W.Va./Oak Glen) fourth kill of the day sealed the Green and White's victory and its second ever PAC title.

MATCH NOTES

  • Senior Reilly Parker (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) continued to be a staple for the Bison's defensive efforts as her 25 digs has pushed her to second in Bethany's laurels with 2,489 career digs. Parker surpassed Julia Mouch (2012-15), while is only 27 digs away from tying program leader Robin Sayre (1986-89) at 2,516.

  • Junior Katie Sparks (Macedonia, Ohio/Trinity) was a forced to be reckoned with throughout the day as she tallied her 15th double-double on the campaign with a game-high 17 kills to go along with 15 digs. With the 17 kills, the Macedonia, Ohio native became just the ninth Bison is program history to eclipse the 1,000 kill milestone. 

  • Sparks has now etched her name in the record book as her 4.11 kills per set for the campaign is the best in program history in a single season, overtaking Lauren Spegal's 4.01 record that was set in 2007. The junior has proven to be a weapon for the Bison as she has led her team and the conference nearly all season with 432 total kills, which is ranked seventh best in Bison history.

  • Senior Ashley Veryser (Cygnet, Ohio/Elmwood) was critical in front of the net as she tallied a game-high six blocks on the night as she stuffed her stat sheet with seven kills and a pair of digs. Freshman Jess Moore (Stewartstown, Pa./Kennard-Dale), Swan, and Sparks all had multi-block efforts as Bethany out-blocked their opponent, 16-5.

UP NEXT

The Bison will wait to see where they will be seeded in the NCAA Championship tournament as team selections for the Division III Championships are scheduled to be announced Monday, Nov. 5 at 12:30 p.m. (EST) with an online selection show available at ncaa.com. First round action is slated to get underway Thursday-Friday, Nov. 8-9.