TC undefeated vs. KW, McPherson

TCvbCortneyJanzen170.jpg
TCvbCortneyJanzen170.jpg

Tabor College middle hitter Courtney Janzen delivers a kill during the Bluejays? four-game win over Kansas Wesleyan last Wednesday night. She recorded four kills and two blocks on the evening.

The Tabor College volleyball team trounced Kansas Wesleyan in four games last Wednesday, setting up a potentially decisive week for the Bluejays conference title hopes.

The preseason favorites in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, Tabor has beaten back every challenger conference challenger, but has yet to play two of the KCAC?s heavyweights: Bethel (4-0) and Friends (4-1). The Threshers win over the Falcons last Wednesday night sets up a potential showdown of unbeatens, with the Bluejays? Tuesday night visit to Friends being all that stands in the way.

Tabor?s victory over Kansas Wesleyan (25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-21) did not come much more easily than the Bluejays? 5-game victory McPherson last Monday.

The Bluejays trailed the Coyotes from the outset, and continued to trail until Gina Hullet?s ace gave Tabor a 15-14 lead.

Ashley Cohlmia?s kill gave Tabor a 2-point lead, but the match see-sawed through a series of ties at 16, 20, 21 and 22.

Cohlmia?s spike down the line pushed it to game point, and Wesleyan failed to rally back again. Tabor led the second game 9-5 and pulled away for a 5-point win during Hullet?s serve.

The Coyotes bounced back in the third game, with sideouts tying the game a 2, 3, 4 and 5 before a series of Tabor errors enabled a 5-0 run and a 3-point Bluejays deficit.

The Bluejays battled back to force ties at 13 and 16, and Courtney Janzen?s kill brought the Bluejays within a point at 22-23. Wesleyan held on to win the game, but the Coyotes were unable to defend a 4-point lead in the fourth game.

The Bluejays pulled into a 19-19 tie on a spike by Cohlmia, who had four kills out of Tabor?s final seven points. She totaled 15 kills in the match.

Hullet booked 14 kills. Frick tallied 11 kills and Mandi Phillips recorded 51 assists.

Hullet was named ?hitter of the week? on Monday. Phillips was named ?setter of the week? for the third week in a row.

McPherson?Tabor beat the Bulldogs (23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 24-26, 15-12) despite a slow start.

Ashley Cohlmia and Tina Frick led the Bluejays attack with 15 kills apiece in the match.

Jordan Crosson and Gina Hullet each added nine kills and Mandi Phillips scored 47 assists.

"It was good to see our women come away with a five-game win," Bluejays coach Amy Ratzlaff said. "Obviously we did not want to get into a fifth game and some of our attack and serving errors pushed us into that scenario, but a fifth game win on the road always provides a level of confidence in tight situations that you cannot reproduce in practice.?

Tabor (5-0 KCAC, 7-6 overall) played Friends at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Wichita. The Bluejays open October with a visit to Bethel at 7 p.m. on Thursday followed by a noon match at home against Bethany on Saturday.

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