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All-KCAC & NAIA Honors | Weekly
KCAC Honors
A fourth place finish in 2004 and five returning starters didn’t seem to impress the coaches of the KCAC as they picked the Lady Bulldogs to finish sixth, in their pre-season poll. But, that was just extra motivation!
McPherson opened 2005 taking 3 of 4 matches in the McPherson Invitational before falling to KCAC pre-season favorites Tabor and Bethel.
Seven straight conference wins were broken up by a dual loss to Avila and five losses in the Mid America Nazarene tournament.
10-9 overall, 7-2 in conference play after one rotation, the Lady Bulldogs again dropped back-to-back matches to Tabor and Bethel to start the second round of KCAC play.
Three-game sweeps of cross-town rival Central Christian College and the University of Saint Mary was followed by a 3-1 loss to Kansas Wesleyan. That would be big in the season’s final analysis.
Five more wins rounded out the Lady Bulldogs’ conference play, which ended with McPherson standings 13-5, the most conference wins in school history, and tied for third place with KWU. The third place conference finish surpassed 2004’s fourth place, which had been the best conference finish since 1989.
After going to the tie breaker with KWU, McPherson entered the KCAC post-season tournament with the #4 seed, and the opportunity to host Ottawa University. After going four games in each of their earlier wins over the Lady Braves, McPherson dispatched Ottawa in three straight to move on into the KCAC semifinals.
Traveling to North Newton, where they had never won under coach Stephenson, the Lady Bulldogs put the KCAC co-champions away in four games to earn their first ever berth in the KCAC championship match.
Always a tough place to play, the Lady Bulldogs headed east to Hillsboro to meet the other KCAC regular season co-champion, Tabor, for the tournament title. Like their second meeting of the season, Tabor came away with a four-game, match win.
But, the season wasn’t over the Lady Bulldogs. Based on their win over Bethel in the KCAC semifinals, McPherson jumped to 8 th in the Region IV, earning the college’s first-ever spot in the Region IV tournament.
Held at the College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebr., the first round pitted McPherson against top-seeded and nationally ranked, host school Saint Mary. The Bulldogs stay was a short one as Saint Mary swept the Bulldogs, 3-0, to close McPherson’s 19-13 season. The 19 wins equals the second highest single-season win total in school history, and the most since 1985.
Jennifer Marquette would repeat as a All-KCAC first team selection while Kendra Stephenson would be named to her first All-KCAC first team. Stephenson would later be named to the All-NAIA Region IV second team, the only Lady Bulldog so honored. Kelsey Crist would be named to the All-KCAC second team for a second time and Jessica Miller would garner her initial All-KCAC post-season honors by also being named to the second team.
With no seniors on their 2005 squad, the Lady Bulldogs are anxiously looking forward to next fall.
