"Wesleyan is third in the conference, so this was a big match," coach Amy Ratzlaff said. "We played pretty well in the first two games but struggled more in the third game with our offense."

In fact, Tabor trailed 20-27 late in Game 3 before staging a comeback.

"I am just thrilled that the women dug their heels in and did what they needed to do," Ratzlaff said. "We could have played a fourth game, but they just said it's our game and went out and got it.

"They stepped up their defense and we had most of our blocks in the final game. That was a huge difference for us."

Tabor was led in kills by Staci Whitcomb and Ashley Malcolm with 11 each. Anne Gunden contributed 30 assists.

"We rotated between a 5-1 and a 6-2," Ratzlaff said. "But Anne played well and Ashley hit the ball well.

"Ashley has always been a great athlete, but now she's put some aggressiveness behind her attack and that's made a big difference in her game."

Tabor also recorded 21 blocks; Jill Hein led with seven.

With the victory, Tabor stayed tied atop the KCAC with a 15-1 mark while improving to 18-10 overall.

"We had a huge week beating two teams that were in the top three (in the conference) and beating Bethel who was ahead of us in the Region IV ratings," Ratzlaff said. "Hopefully this will give us some confidence this week."

Bethel-Tabor exacted a measure of revenge Thursday night by defeating Bethel College in Hillsboro, 30-28, 20-30, 28-30, 30-26, 17-15.

"It was a great night of volleyball all the way around," coach Amy Ratzlaff said. "We won the first game but in the second and third games we just didn't pass the ball very well.

"The base level of playing ball is in your passing and if you're not able to accomplish that, you can't really work on any other aspects of your game," she added. "But the nice thing is it's one thing you can put your finger on and know that's what has to be taken care of.

"When we passed the ball well we dominated, and when we didn't pass well we struggled."

Tabor's attack was led by Staci Whitcomb with 21 kills in 43 attempts. Lindsey Vogts added 11 kills and Kelsi Suderman 10 to Tabor's total of 64 team kills.

Anne Gunden dished out 39 assists.

"Anne had a very good game and Staci had a phenomenal game," Ratzlaff said. "Anne took care of the ball and mixed up her sets-and that was crucial.

"Staci looked like she had her mind made up that she was going to have a good game and put the ball away," Ratzlaff added.

"Both of my middles played well. We knew we had to get Lindsey involved and show them some things she didn't show them the last time."

Also stepping up was Jill Hein with 11 digs and eight of Tabor's 19 blocks. Gunden and Whitcomb each added 14 digs.

"Jill gave 110 percent, both defensively and offensively," Ratzlaff said. "It was a typical can't-live-without-her Jill Hein type of game."

Trailing two games to one, Tabor trailed by four points late in the fourth game before rallying for the win.

"I feel we passed well at the end of the fourth game," Ratzlaff said. "We've continually tried to work on being the aggressor and I think that turned Game 4 around for us."

Tied at two games each, Tabor again fell behind 11-14 in Game 5 before scoring six of the final seven points of the match

"Our home-court advantage and going back to our home side for the final seven points of the game was huge," Ratzlaff said. "It was amazing when we switched sides, the energy from our crowd was awesome.

"We made a couple errors that got us to 11-14, but we talked about being the aggressor and were able to adjust to Bethel," she added. "I saw our front row make up their minds this was going to be their ball game. That sheer will to get it done showed through."

With the win, Tabor tied Bethel atop the KCAC standings with a 14-1 mark while improving to 17-10 overall.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Ratzlaff said "This game is only as good as we play the next three matches (on the road against Kansas Wesleyan, Friends and Ottawa).

"The win puts us back into the driver's seat and that's all you can ask for."

Southwestern-Tabor defeated Southwestern at Winfield Oct. 24, 30-9, 30-17, 30-15.

"We have been talking a lot about playing our game rather than playing the game the other team sets for us and I really couldn't have been more excited watching the women play at Southwestern," coach Amy Ratzlaff said.

Tabor's attack was fueled by Staci Whitcomb and Lindsey Vogts with 10 kills apiece while Jill Hein added eight.

"I feel we played crisp, they played disciplined and everyone got to play except Traci Neufeld, who was out with a sprained ankle," Ratzlaff said. "Kelsi Suderman played all the way around and did a phenomenal job for us."

Anne Gunden had 22 assists while Audrey Schellenberg added 13.

"The women were much more aggressive and finally made up their minds up that they were going to play ball," Ratzlaff said. "It was exciting just to be a part of that and to see them do that."

The Bluejays came up with 62 digs in the match as well as 12 blocks. Vogts led with four blocks.

"Our entire front row was hitting the ball extremely well with a lot of power," Ratzlaff said. "That was all the way across-no one person did it more than any other person.

"After the game I went down the list with each player and every single one of them had something they had been working on that they made a distinct improvement on in this match, and that's a good step in the right direction."

The victory improved Tabor's record to 16-10 overall and 13-1 in KCAC play.

Coming-Tabor was scheduled to travel to Ottawa Tuesday to battle the Braves before closing the regular season with a road trip to Wichita Thursday to play the Friends Falcons.