Bison take one of two at Thiel tri-match

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

GREENVILLE, Pa. (Sept. 16) – The Bethany College volleyball team split a pair of Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matches at a tri-match at Thiel College Saturday afternoon. The  Bison opened the day with a 3-1 loss to Westminster, before defeating Thiel 3-0 in the finale.

THE MATCHUPS

• Match 1 Final: Westminster 3, Bethany 1 (25-23, 10-25, 25-15, 25-15 | Box Score)
• Match 2 Final: Bethany 3, Thiel 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-16 | Box Score)
• Records: Bethany 7-4, 2-1 PAC | Westminster 9-1, 3-0 PAC | Thiel 7-5, 1-2 PAC
• Location: Beeghly Gymnasium | Greenville, Pennsylvania

BETHANY vs. WESTMINSTER MATCH NOTES

• The opening set of the match saw numerous tie scores and little separation. Bethany led 22-21 on a kill by freshman Jenna Scott (New Castle, Ind./Liberty Christian), but three-straight points by the Titans allowed them to claim a 1-0 lead in the match.
• Bethany commanded the second set and led 20-10, before earning the final five points in the set to even the match at one all.
• Westminster claimed momentum with back-to-back 25-15 wins to close out the match.
• The Titans held Bethany to hitting percentages of .023 and negative-.073 to complete the win.
• Sophomore Katie Sparks (Macedonia, Ohio/Trinity) recorded a kill-dig double-double with a team-high 14 kills and 13 digs.
• Scott also recorded a double-double with 16 assists and 11 digs in the loss.
• A trio of Bison finished with over 20 digs, including junior Reilly Parker (North Huntington, Pa./Norwin), who tallied a team-best 23 for Bethany. Junior Keili Terry (Leesburg, Va./Saint John's) and sophomore Maggie Merren (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) posted 23 and 21 digs respectively.

BETHANY vs. THIEL MATCH NOTES

• The Bison recovered from their loss to Westminster with a 3-0 win over host-Thiel to close out the day.
• Similar to the first match of the day, the opening set came down to the wire against Thiel. The Bison were the victors this time, rallying back from a 21-16 deficit to earn a 25-22 win.
• Bethany held the lead for the majority of the second set, but the Tomcats managed to force a tie-score at 18-18 near the end. The Bison closed out the set by taking seven of the final 10 points to claim a 25-21 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
• The Bison defense had its best set of the day in the third and final set. Bethany held Thiel to a negative-.061 hitting percentage and allowed only five kills on 33 total attacks to close out a 3-0 win.
• Sparks and senior Sumayyah Muhammad (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding) each tallied 10 kills to lead the offense.
• Scott earned her second double-double of the day with 23 assists and 10 digs. She also added a pair of service aces in the win.
• Parker finished with 21 digs in the three-set win to lead the defense. She also added a pair of service aces to her final line.

UP NEXT

• The Bison will continue with their PAC schedule on Wednesday, September 20 when they head to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to take on Chatham at 7 p.m.
• Chatham will provide a live video stream of the match here.