Bison bow out at NCAA Tournament to Wittenberg, 3-0

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

Box Score

Nov. 10 – GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Bethany College volleyball team was dealt a 3-0 loss (26-24, 25-19, 25-22) by No. 6 Wittenberg Thursday afternoon in the NCAA Tournament First Round at the Van Noord Arena.

The Bison end the season at 25-12 overall after securing the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament berth and Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship. Meanwhile, the Tigers, ranked No. 6 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III poll, improve to 22-5 overall and advance to take on Millikin in the second round.

Senior Dakota McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum) led the Bison with 14 kills, while senior Dylana McKenzie (Hopewell, Ohio/West Muskingum) added nine in the loss. Senior Alexis Castro (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) and freshman Katie Sparks (Macedonia, Ohio/Trinity) each added seven kills and three blocks in the match.

Senior setter Allie Powell (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) registered 41 assists to guide the offense, while freshman libero Maggie Merren (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) totaled 15 digs to head the defensive efforts.

The Bison came out fast in the first set. The Bison led 10-9 before rolling off 11 of the next 17 points, including a trio of kills by Dylana McKenzie, to take a 21-15 lead. After Wittenberg rallied back with five-straight points to pull within one at 21-20, the Bison traded points with the Tigers to pull within a point of earning the set at 24-23. Unfortunately for the Green & White, an attack-error, ball handling error and a kill by Wittenberg's Maddie Fischer completed the comeback first-set win for the Tigers.

Wittenberg maintained the momentum in the second set. With the score knotted at three, the Tigers picked up four-straight points to take a 7-3 lead and force Head Coach Courtney Kline to take a timeout. The Bison trimmed the lead down to two, 10-8, but Wittenberg rebuilt its lead once more when the  Tigers went on a 10-2 run to take a 20-12 lead. Bethany bounced back with a quick 5-1 spurt to pull within four, 21-17. However, Wittenberg utilized a timeout and finished off the set at 25-19 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Green & White trailed 6-3 early on in the must-win third set, but recovered with nine of the next 11 points to take a 12-8 lead and force a Wittenberg timeout. The Bison managed to find holes in the Tiger defense and converted three-straight kills, including a pair by Dakota McKenzie to cap off the run.

Bethany pushed its lead to 15-10 thanks to a kill by Castro, but Wittenberg began to chip away at the Bison lead. After the Tigers tied the game at 17-17, the third set saw four more tie scores with the match at a 21-21 draw. Wittenberg tallied three-straight points to reach match-point, but the Bison ended the run with a kill by junior Sumayyah Muhammad (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding) to put the score at 24-22. Wittenberg ended the match on the next point to complete the three-game sweep and eliminate the Bison from the postseason.

The McKenzie twins conclude their careers as the two most decorated volleyball players in Bethany College history. Dylana, the first PAC Player of the Year since 1992, exits as the school's all-time kills leader at 1,619 while Dakota finishes right behind her twin-sister with 1,544 all-time kills. Dylana concludes the season with 451 kills, good for the sixth-best single-season in school history, while Dakota's 427 slots as the seventh-best single-season.

Castro ends her Bison career with a school-record 305 career assisted blocks. She broke the record of 252 set by Carrie Talkington earlier this season. Senior Arielle Sanders (Maple Heights, Ohio/Maple Heights) concludes her career with 223 assisted blocks, which ties for fourth all-time in school history.

Powell ends the season with 1,191 assists, which ranks as the sixth-highest assist total in a single-season at Bethany.

The Bison seniors will graduate with an overall record of 112-46 (.708 winning percentage) and leave the school with the distinction of being members of the school's first-ever PAC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance team.