By: Garrett Connor
On Saturday November 11, 2017, the McPherson College volleyball team came up short on their run for a KCAC title. After a 20-10 regular season record, the girls went into the KCAC tournament as the fourth seeded team. They were paired up with Bethany, Oklahoma Wesleyan, and Ottawa for the pool play portion of the tournament. The bulldogs performed well on Thursday as they added two more sweeps to their season, beating Bethany College and Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Lexi Kite was a key to both wins, tallying a total of 28 kills. On Friday, the girls went up against the regular season champion Ottawa Braves. The bulldogs came out firing and won the first set 26-24. Ottawa regrouped and took the next three sets to win the match. They did not come easy though. The bulldogs fought hard but lost 25-19, 25-23, and 25-17. The volleyball team moved on to championship Saturday with a strong 2-1 pool play record. McPherson College was matched up with their rival Tabor College for the semifinal game of the KCAC tournament. McPherson jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in set one before Tabor began to claw back. The first set was a back and forth competition for both teams, but Tabor ended up on top with a 26-24 win. Set two started off the same way as the first set. The bulldogs pulled out to another 3-0 lead, but just like the first set Tabor fought back and took the second set 25-22. The third set came down to the wire again. Tabor grabbed an early 4-1 lead but the bulldogs would not go away. They fought back and took an 18-15 lead late in the set. Saturday just was not the bulldogs day. Tabor found a way to come from behind again and win 25-23. Even though the girls did not pull of a win, they showed a lot of fight. The girls have a lot to look forward to next year since they will only lose one senior. The McPherson Bulldogs ended with a program best 22 wins, surpassing the 21 wins from last year.
