TC volleyball season ends vs. Bethany

Written by AO Friday, 14 November 2008 16:06

The Tabor College volleyball season ended in a 4-game loss to Bethany (23-25, 15-25, 25-16, 21-25) during the semi-final round of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament Nov. 14 in North Newton.

The Bluejays seemed a step slower than their Swede counterparts at the outset Friday night, trailing by four points early in the first game. But the Bluejays rallied behind Ashley Cohlmia, who knotted the game at 7-7 with an ace. The Bluejays ran off four straight during Clancey Kelley's serve, with Gina Hullet notching two kills and Jordan Crosson pounding down another. The Tabor lead dwindled from there. Bethany retied it at 19-19, and took the lead on a hard hit by middle hitter Kristi Parker. Tabor battled back, retaking the lead at 23-22 when Crosson hammered a kill off of a Swede blocker, but Bethany scored three straight to take the first game. The game point—a hard spike dug up by a Bethany back-row defender that carried over the net and fell amid a cluster of Bluejays—looked like a fluke, but proved ominous in the second game, during which disorganization robbed Tabor of its effectiveness.

Late in the second game, the Bluejays rediscovered their game and won six of the last 10 points, but still found themselves in a 2-0 hole against the regular season runners-up. Even so, Tabor carried the momentum into the third game, routing the Swedes with an 18-8 run after trailing 7-8. But in the fourth game, Bethany took an 11-3 lead—a climb too steep to overcome, not even with the 16-11 run the Bluejays mounted to force a Bethany time out at 16-23. Tabor pulled within 19-23 on a kill by Crosson, but Tabor could inch no closer.