Photo by Lizzie Caron
McPherson, Kan. – It is very evident, even to the casual observer, that this year's Central Christian College women's volleyball team is much improved over the past few seasons. Unfortunately that improvement doesn't always show up in the win column. After dropping a five setter at home on Tuesday evening to OCU, the Tigers fell again in five sets at home on Friday night to the Southwestern Christian University Eagles.
The Tigers were cruising in the opening set, up 16-11 but then their hitting went AWOL, and they ended up dropping the set 29-27. In the second set, they were competitive again, but when it counted, their attack was absent. The Eagles fed off the mistakes and took set two, 25-21.
With their backs against the wall, the Tiger offense started to find it's rhythm and they rallied to take set three, 26-24. They kept the momentum going in the fourth, and cruised to an easy victory, 25-15. All the momentum was in the Tigers' favor heading into the deciding fifth set and they jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but the Eagles caught fire and won eight of the next nine points to take a commanding 10-6 lead. The Eagles would eventually lead 14-10, but the Tigers fought of three match points to get to 14-13, but the rally stalled, and the Eagles escaped with a 15-13 win in the set, and a 3-2 match score.
Key Statistic
Hitting was the key, in the sets they won, the Tigers hit .217 and .333. In the three sets they lost, they hit .098, .114, and -.062.
By the Numbers
The Tigers finished with 66 kills on 213 attempts, with 37 errors for an attack percentage of .136.
Three players had double digit kill totals.
They assisted on 64 of their 66 kills, and recorded 8 service aces.
Defensively they recorded 111 defensive digs, with six players recording double digit dig totals, and they recorded 5 blocks.
Tiger Leaders
Kills: Amanda Dotter (21)
Digs: Kamryn Vanatta (19)
Assists: McKenzee Cook (58)
Aces: Katirya Vergara (4)
Blocks: Ashanti Sampsell (4)
Coach Quote
"I give a ton of credit to our team! The girls did an excellent job of executing a game plan, adapting and competing. The first couple sets were tough but we got to see that our team is developing the grit it takes to compete in the SAC. To be down 7-14 in the 5th and then fight and battle back to 13-15…I was impressed with what we are capable of. If we keep improving and develop that grit to where we compete for every point I believe we can compete with anybody! I was very encouraged by our team's performance and I can't wait to see what we do next!" – Coach Rick Hughes
Next Up
The loss drops the Tigers at 7-19 overall, and 2-14 in SAC play. They head out on their final road trip of the season next weekend, playing Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas on Friday then stopping in Goodwell, Oklahoma on Saturday for a match with Oklahoma Panhandle State.
