Following a five-set victory over McPherson Wednesday, the Tabor College volleyball team lost at Ottawa in three sets Friday (25-19, 25-19, 25-21).
Tena Loewen led the attack with 13 kills. Megan Voth had 15 assists and two service aces. Kelsea Brittain added 10 assists. Callie Jackson and Loewen contributed nine digs. Katelin Horstick added a solo block.
McPherson?It took five sets for Tabor to defeat the visiting Bulldogs Wednesday.
?The fifth set always goes to the team that has the most passion and energy,? coach Amy Ratzlaff said. ?I feel like that?s what we were struggling with in the first four sets, is a steady flow of that.?
Tabor never trailed in Set 1 en-route to a 25-19 victory.
But in Set 2, the Bluejays found themselves trailing, 4-1, early on. Tena Loewen tied the game at 7 with a kill, but McPherson worked its way to a 17-14 advantage.
Back-to-back kills by Katelin Horstick and Sydney Peitz helped push Tabor in front, 19-18. From there, the teams traded scores, but the Bulldogs won, 25-23.
Tabor held the advantage the majority of Set 3, leading by as many as 19-11. With the Bluejays in front, 22-15, McPherson scored six unanswered points.
Tabor maintained a slight advantage, even drawing within one point of victory, 24-22, with a Loewen kill. But from there back-to-back Bulldog kills tied the game, and McPherson came out on top, 26-24.
Set 4 started with a Horstick kill, and aside form a 2-2 tie, Tabor led from start to finish. Ahead 17-12, Tabor scored five unanswered points, building a 10-point, 22-12, lead after a Callie Jackson service ace. Kills by Loewen and Horstick highlighted the final few points, and Tabor won, 25-14.
The final set remained close at the start, and the teams worked to a 7-7 tie. A 6-1 Bluejay run gave Tabor a small cushion, 13-8, and Tabor went on to win, 15-11.
?I think as the match progressed, our passing got better, which meant our attacking got better,? Ratzlaff said. ?Sets four and five, we were able to hit better balls, so that was an improvement.
?I think that more passion in the fifth set, that was good to see because I feel like it addressed what we were lacking in the (sets) that we lost. That?s always good when you feel like you come full circle with the thing that was costing you at the beginning of the match was the thing that won it for you in the end.?
Loewen led the attack with 16 kills. She also had four service aces. Peitz added 15 kills. Megan Voth had 24 assists; Kelsea Brittain had 23. Whitney Maple added 28 digs, and Katelin Horstick had a solo block.
Coming?Tabor (3-1, 6-10) will travel to Kansas Wesleyan (4-0, 11-8) today for a 7 p.m. game and will host the University of Saint Mary (1-3, 1-8) Saturday at 1 p.m. Kansas Wesleyan is receiving votes in the Coaches? Top 25 poll.
