Bethel volleyball takes two wins at Peru State
The Threshers average win margin per set was 11 points last weekend, with Ownbey and Roman leading the offense for Bethel.
PERU, Neb. — The Bethel volleyball team took home two wins last weekend in a Peru State doubleheader, defeating both William Penn and Peru State in three straight sets. The Threshers average winning margin per set was 11 points over the six matches that were played this weekend.
“We took charge early with really tough serving,” said head coach Adriana Leake. “It put both [William Penn and Peru State] in really tough spots, trying to score out of system. We were able to convert their offense pretty efficiently, which was so fun to watch. We got a lot of free balls and out of system attacks from both opponents which allowed us to really use all of our offensive weapons. We run a 5-1 [offense] and to have five hitters that can score at any moment... that's really tough to defend for anyone.”
The Threshers, as Coach Leake noted, are a team full of talented, veteran hitters. This was shown especially this weekend, one in which saw the Threshers hit .37 in their match against Peru State. Offensive leaders for the Threshers included Laci Ownbey, with 21 kills on the weekend, and Mia Roman, the leading setter for Bethel, adding 53 assists. The match against Peru State also saw freshman Abby Koontz deliver five service aces.
“Defense became super easy for us because we served really well which has been one of our main goals this season,” said senior Kylah Carter, from Houston, Tex. “The other team was out of system and it made it easy for us to set up our defense on our side.”
Not to be outdone, the Thresher defense also performed exceptionally last weekend. Bethel held William Penn and Peru State to -.037 and .000 hitting percentages respectively. Darla Crow had eight total blocks this weekend to lead the Threshers, and Abby Koonts led the way with 24 digs over the two matches. Crow’s fellow middle blocker Jordan Boone had this to say about the Thresher’s defensive performance:
“The discipline we had as a whole allowed our defense to excel this week,” said Boone, from Gardner. “We really zoned in on their key players and were able to put up a block in front of them.”
The Threshers have had a challenging preseason, and as they are finishing up their non-conference play, the Threshers are finishing preparations for the competitive play of the KCAC.
“In preseason we talked about how we were framing non-conference, that these games are a part of our process, the goal was to take away as much as we can from every game day so that we can grow into the best possible team by the end of the season,” said coach Leake. “We knew that our schedule would be much tougher than in the past, in terms of quality opponents, but also being on the road the entirety of preseason. We've proven to ourselves & everyone else in the country that we're able to compete with the top teams in the country. I'm thankful for the lessons that have helped us prepare to be the team we are now as we enter conference! “
The Threshers take on Haskell in Lawrence at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sep. 21 in their final non conference game of the regular season.