Photo by Kami Wood
McPherson, Kan. – The Central Christian College volleyball team nearly picked up what would have been one of the biggest wins in program history on Tuesday evening. The Tigers fell in a five set thriller at home against the Oklahoma City University Stars.
The Tigers came out flat in the opening set, and the Stars raced to a 25-16 win. The Tigers regrouped between sets, and came out much more focused and technically sharp. They jumped all over the Stars to start the set, leading 9-1 out of the gate. They road that early momentum to a 25-20 set win to even the match at a set apiece.
They kept the momentum going into the third set, winning the set 25-21 to take a 2 sets to 1 lead in the match. Facing elimination, the Stars rose to the challenge, taking set 4, 25-18 to force a deciding 5th set.
In the final set, the Tigers again led early, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. The Stars answered with a 4-0 run to retake the lead 5-4. After the Tigers tied the set at five, the Stars went on another 4-1 run to push their lead out to 10-6. From there, the Tigers were unable to gain ground, and the Stars won the set 15-7 to win the match.
Key Statistic
It was the Tiger defense that kept them in the match. They came up with 64 defensive digs, forcing the Stars to take 164 swings, which led to 30 errors.
By the Numbers
The Tigers finished with 43 kills on 140 attempts, with 27 errors for an attack percentage of .114.
They assisted on 42 of their 31 kills, and recorded 3 service aces.
To go along with their 64 defensive digs, they also recorded 3 blocks.
Tiger Leaders
Kills: Amanda Dotter (17)
Digs: Kamryn Vanatta (15)
Assists: McKenzee Cook (36)
Aces: Katirya Vergara (2)
Blocks: Amanda Dotter (3)
Coach Quote
"Very proud of our team tonight. Through the match we had lots of great things going and the biggest one for me was how well we played together as a unit. We had to ask some people to fill different roles and create other opportunities. It was a great match and great competition. We have a young group that is working hard and we have good leadership challenging them each day to compete and be their best. We aren't done improving this year. We already have our sights set on SCU, WBU, OPSU, USAO and MACU." – Coach Rick Hughes
Next Up
The loss drops the Tigers at 7-18 overall, and 2-13 in SAC play. They will be back in action on Friday, at home again, this time against Southwestern Christian University. First serve is slated for 6:00 pm.
