Mac spikers end great season

By STEVE SELL, Sentinel Sports Editor

WICHITA -- The best turnaround season in the KCAC came to an end Tuesday night when McPherson College's volleyball team was ousted from the conference's postseason tournament.

Friends avenged a regular-season loss to the Bulldogs with straight-game victories, 30-21, 30-22 and 33-31.

The Bulldogs, picked eighth in the KCAC after going 8-19 last year, 5-13 in the KCAC, finished the season 18-13 and 9-9 in the KCAC.

"We had a great season and I am so very proud of the girls," Mac coach Nathalea Stephenson said. "We have a very young team and you can bet these girls will be hunry for next year and I think we will surprise a lot of teams."

Friends moves on to play Kansas Wesleyan in the Final Four. Ottawa and Tabor meet in the other semi.

In the first game, the Bulldogs showed the jitters of being a young team by falling behind 12-1.

"We were playing very tight and needed to relax and have fun, but I believe that we put a lot of pressure on ourselves and couldn't serve receive as well as we could have," Stephenson said.

The Bulldogs led early in the second game, but the Falcons overcame the deficit for the win. Friends had a lead in the third game, but Mac came back to make things interesting at the end, but came up just short.

STATISTICS

Andrea Gonzales -- 6 kills, 2 aces, 3 digs, 1 assisted block. April Stos -- 1 kill. Jenni Marquette -- 1 solo block. Renee Hall -- 1 solo block. Erin Pargman -- 1 kill. Erica Alvarez -- 11 kills, 3 digs, 2 solo blocks. Lisa Salazar -- 6 kills, 1 ace, 12 digs, 2 solo blocks. Nicole McGee -- 2 kills. Stefanie Slinkard -- 6 kills, 3 solo blocks, 1 assisted block. Kelsey Hendricks -- 1 kill, 13 assists, 4 digs. Kelsey Crist -- 1 kill, 1 ace, 14 digs. Kendra Stephenson -- 16 assists, 3 aces, 6 digs. Amber Ontiveroz -- 5 digs.