Bluejays win 2, tie for 3rd

The Tabor College volleyball team defeated two conference opponents, ran its overall record to 14-10 and leapfrogged into a tie for third place in the KCAC standings last week.

Having edged out McPherson (33-31, 30-26, 24-30, 30-27), Tabor hammered Friends (30-25, 29-31, 30-16, 30-25) on Thursday.

?We had a great week of volleyball,? coach Amy Ratzlaff said. ?The women really started playing well together and our offense took a step forward.

?You can see that in our hitting percentages and kills-per-game stats,? she added. ?Overall, I think we?re really starting to play some good volleyball, working the bugs out and getting used to each other.?

Taylor Lawrence smashed 23 kills and had only two attack errors in Thursday?s contest at Friends. Her attack rating topped 56 percent, and the team finished one out of every three opportunities.

?Taylor played really well against Friends,? Ratzlaff said. ?That?s the highest attack percentage she?s had, and that?s definitely what she?s capable of.

?She a super athlete, and I don?t think she played out of her head?that?s just a solid performance, something we can look forward to seeing from her again,? she added.

The contest at McPherson, Oct. 8, saw Heather Witham hammer 17 kills. Lawrence finished with 14 and Ashley Cohlmia 12.

?Heather played well at McPherson, leading us in kills and being available to hit,? Ratzlaff said. ?Our middles did a very good job blocking, and sometimes when that happens, it can be hard to get them back to hit well.

?Heather did both things well, and that lets us vary our offense,? she added.

The Bluejays are tied with Bethel in the standings at 8-3, and the teams have closed within two games of the top spot in the KCAC.

?Varying our offense is defiinitely contributing to our success,? Ratzlaff said. ?At the beginning of the season, we had to set to our outsides a lot because we weren?t trained enough to use all of our hitters.

?Hopefully, the progress we?re seeing will continue to be part of our success,? she added.

Coming?Tabor faced Kansas Wesleyan (10-1, 16-7 overall) Tuesday in Salina. The Bluejays will meet Bethany (10-1, 17-6) at 7 p.m Thursday in Lindsborg.

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