The Tabor College volleyball team enjoyed a sweep of three KCAC matchups last week, polishing the effort with a 3-0 win over Bethel Saturday to improve to 6-1 in conference play.
The Bluejays were dominant in Set 1, earning a 25-10 victory while hitting .440 and recording 15 kills.
Leading 7-3, Tabor enjoyed a 6-0 run for a 13-3 advantage. Amy Horner contributed two service aces, while Tena Loewen recorded a pair of kills.
Tabor extended its lead to 19-7 and won when Miranda Leibold recorded a kill and a service ace to end the set.
Tabor won Set 2, 25-15.
Three Bluejay errors contributed to an 8-5 Bethel advantage, and the teams locked heads in a tie 13 times. Following an 11-11 tie, however, Leibold recorded back-to-back kills to ignite a 5-0 run that gave the Bluejays the lead for good.
Tabor completed the sweep by winning Set 3, 25-22. The game remained close early on. Following an 11-11 tie, Tabor outscored Bethel, 7-1 to build its largest lead of the set, 18-12.
Bethel, however, rallied to tie the game at 21. A pair of kills by Loewen put Tabor in front, and the Bluejays held on to win by three.
Loewen tallied 17 kills on .419 hitting. Megan Voth had 19 assists. Ali Jost had 16 digs.
Kansas Wesleyan—Tabor handed the Coyotes their first conference loss in a five-set match Wednesday.
It took time for Tabor to find its rhythm as Kansas Wesleyan rolled to a 25-16 win in Set 1. The Coyotes built a 14-5 lead, a deficit that proved too large to overcome, and scored the set’s final four points to claim the win. Kansas Wesleyan hit .343 in that set with 15 kills. Tabor, meanwhile, recorded 10 kills but had eight attack errors.
Tabor evened the match with a 25-21 victory in Set 2. The Bluejays’ hitting percentage improved to .371 with 18 kills. A 9-2 Bluejay rally capped by a kill from Kendra Kroeker turned a 5-2 deficit into an 11-7 advantage, and Tabor never trailed again. The Bluejays survived a late rally by the Coyotes and won with a kill from Tena Loewen.
The Bluejays maintained momentum, winning Set 3, 25-23. The Bluejays trailed early on, but used a 7-2 burst to swing the score in their favor, 15-13. With the exception of one tie, Tabor maintained the lead to the end. Miranda Leibold sealed the victory with a kill.
Kansas Wesleyan stayed alive by winning Set 4, 25-21. The Coyotes established an advantage, but Tabor drew within 20-19 with a string of four points. Kansas Wesleyan scored the next three via kill and went on to win by four.
Tabor claimed the victory with a 15-8 win in Set 5. The Bluejays scored the set’s first four points and later turned up the heat by scoring seven in a row. Kroeker got things started with a kill, then Loewen recorded three kills in a row. Three Coyote errors contributed to the effort. When the dust settled, Tabor led, 13-5. Tabor committed three errors after that before Leibold and Loewen sealed the win with back-to-back kills. Tabor hit .438 in the final set.
“Any time your team wins a fifth set, it is the best feeling in the whole wide world,” coach Amy Ratzlaff said. “They won it working really hard, and that was exciting. I feel like we probably made more in-game adjustments in this match than we have made the whole season up to this point.”
Loewen recorded 21 kills. Megan Voth had 46 assists. Ali Jost added 28 digs.
McPherson—Tabor swept the Bulldogs in three sets Monday, 25-19, 25-21 and 25-18.
Coach Amy Ratzlaff said the Bluejays were in attack mode throughout the set.
“We came out and played aggressively, and it overwhelmed their defense,” she said. “That was the key to the game. They’ve got good players, but they just had very few kills, and I think it’s because our offense overwhelmed them.
“We played a really clean defensive game. We had a ton of digs (in) that game, and so I think that that was the biggest factor. I don’t feel like we ever really let down in that game. We just kind of kept building.”
Tabor tallied 36 kills, led by Tena Loewen with 14. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, made more attack errors (25) than kills (17).
Coming—Tabor (6-1, 9-7) will host Bethany (3-4, 5-11) tonight at 7 p.m. They will host Oklahoma Wesleyan (5-1, 10-3) Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
