Bluejay volleyball concludes regular season with win

Janae Rempel / Free Press<p>Tena Loewen attacks the net as Oklahoma Wesleyan?s Krista Reimer blocks. Both are Hillsboro High School graduates. Tabor defeated the Eagles, 3-0, Friday. The Bluejays are the No. 4 seed in the KCAC tournament.

The Tabor College volleyball team ended the regular season with a 3-0 victory over Oklahoma Wesleyan Friday.

?I?m just really pleased,? coach Amy Ratzlaff said. ?They?ve worked really hard to get the skills where they need to be, so now as they add their passion, it becomes very productive, and that?s been fun for us to see happen.

?I thought we did a nice job of mixing some things up tonight.?

Tabor won Set 1, 25-14.

In Set 2, Oklahoma Wesleyan led, 22-21, before Tabor came back to win, 26-24.

Tabor won Set 3, 25-17. The Bluejays built a 20-11 lead, and Tena Loewen, the KCAC Attacker of the Week, polished the victory with a game-ending kill.

The Bluejays hit .346 for the game and had 49 kills. Keeley Kroeker was named Setter of the Week.

Kansas Wesleyan?Tabor defeated the Coyotes, 3-0 Wednesday.

?It was probably one of the most fun games I?ve ever played with my girls,? coach Amy Ratzlaff said. ?We came out on fire, and we did not play beyond ourselves. We played with the skill that we have, but we added passion. When you add that passion, you end up playing as a team rather than individually, and that makes a big difference.?

The Bluejays won Set 1, 25-18. Tabor had 17 kills to Kansas Wesleyan?s eight.

Tabor earned a 25-17 victory in Set 2, holding a 13-10 advantage in kills.

In a marathon Set 3, the Bluejays trailed, 12-5, and again at 24-21, but polished the win with a 31-29 victory. Tabor held a slight advantage in kills, 20-19.

Tena Loewen and Amy Horner each contributed 15 kills to lead Tabor?s attack.

Bethany?After losing the first set, Tabor won the next three to defeat the Swedes Monday night.

Tabor lost Set 1, 26-24. Bethany led by as many as eight before Tabor fought back to tie it at 23 with back-to-back kills by Amy Horner. The Swedes pulled away to win with a pair of kills.

The Bluejays responded with a 25-22 win in Set 2. Bethany enjoyed a 10-5 lead at the start. With Bethany in front, 18-13, Katelin Horstick ignited a 6-0 Tabor run to take the lead. After a 22-22 tie, Tabor won the game with kills by Tena Loewen and Miranda Leibold.

Tabor continued the momentum by winning Set 3, 25-16. The teams locked heads at 14 before the Bluejays burst to the finish, outscoring the Swedes 11-2. Seven of Tabor?s final 11 points came from Swede errors.

The Bluejays polished the win with a 25-19 victory in Set 4. Holding a narrow, 20-19 lead, Tabor finished strong with five unanswered points. The run included a pair of kills and a service ace by Horstick and a kill by Loewen.

Horstick led Tabor?s attack with 21 kills on .500 hitting.

Coming?As the No. 4 seed in the KCAC tournament, Tabor (15-5, 22-11) was scheduled to host No. 5 Oklahoma Wesleyan (13-7, 24-9) Tuesday in the quarterfinals.

Additional quarterfinal pairings include No. 1 Ottawa (19-1, 30-4) hosting No. 8 Saint Mary (6-14, 6-14), No. 3 Friends (15-5, 17-9) hosting No. 6 Sterling (10-10, 19-13) and No. 2 Kansas Wesleyan (16-4, 24-12) hosting No. 7 Southwestern (6-14, 10-22).

The semifinals will be played Friday and the championship Saturday. The winner will advance to the opening round of the NAIA National Championship.

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