TC volleyball snags two more wins

Tabor volleyball coach Amy Ratzlaff (seated) offers encouragement as Amy Horner delivers a kill shot during the opening set against Southwestern on Wednesday. Horner and Kendra Kroeker led the team with 11 kills in the three-set sweep.<p>The Tabor College volleyball team extended its winning streak to six matches last week, adding KCAC wins over Southwes­tern College on Wednesday and Sterling College on Friday.

The Bluejays capped the week by defeating Sterling three sets to one on the Warriors’ home court. The scores were 25-18, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23.

Amy Horner led Tabor’s attack with 19 kills and 14 digs and Kendra Kroeker added 11 kills. Megan Voth contributed a team-high 26 assists and added 13 digs.

The wins at Sterling boosted Tabor’s record to 4-0 in the KCAC and 9-4 overall while Sterling slipped to 0-5 and 4-8.

“It’s always good to get two conference wins,” coach Amy Ratzlaff said. “Our team did not play well during the Sterling match. We had a number of girls not feeling well and we just had to battle our way through it.

“I am thankful for a team that can be tough in a less-than-ideal situation and still get the win. We are looking forward to three conference matches this week.”

Southwestern—Coming off a four-match sweep at the Evangel Classic the previous week, the Bluejays overcame a slow start Wednesday before rolling past the visiting Moundbuilders with increasing momentum in a 25-23, 25-16, 25-11 sweep.

The win improves Tabor’s records to 8-4 for the season and 3-0 in the KCAC while South­western slipped to 0-3 and 2-7.

“I felt like our defense was solid and kept us in the game,” coach Amy Ratzlaff said. “The pace of the game was much different than we had played during the weekend and it took us some time to adjust in the first set, but once we did we were able to settle in and enjoy the match.”

The Bluejays trailed the visitors for most of the opening set before passing them at 19-18 on a kill by Brooke Halloway. Tabor maintained a small lead before finally getting a kill from Kendra Kroeker for the first set win.

From then on, the Blue­jays were in control. Midway through, Tabor went on a 14-4 run to lead 23-11. South­wes­tern rallied for four consecutive points before kills by Sydney Peitz and Jessanna Nebel fueled Tabor to the 25-16 set win.

The final set was anticlimactic after 14-4 surge fueled the Bluejays to a comfortable 19-8 lead on the way to the 25-11 final.

“Our offense started to run more smoothly later in the game, and so the point margin increased,” Ratzlaff said. “It was good to be back home with our home crowd.”

For the match, Tabor outhit Southwestern, .272 to .064 on attack percentage, including a 49-25 advantage in kills. The Bluejays dished out 46 assists to 18 for the Builders, and would come up with a 64-55 edge in digs.

Kim Hockley delivered eight kills with a .467 attack percentage, Kendra Kroeker added 11 kills for a .409 hitting percentage and Amy Horner contributed 11 kills while hitting at a .276 rate.

Megan Voth and Keeley Kroeker contributed double-figure assists with 23 and 17, respectively. Three Bluejays reached double-digits in digs: Ali Jost with 19, Horner with 14 and Haley Falk with 11.

Coming—Tabor was scheduled to host the Univer­sity of Saint Mary (2-2, 5-6) on Monday night. The Bluejays will compete at McPherson (2-2, 6-4) on Wednesday and then host Ottawa (5-0, 11-5) on Satur­day with an 11:30 a.m. start.

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