Volleyball shows resilience in close three-set loss to Ottawa
Bethel's record moves to 16-7 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
On Tuesday, the Bethel (16-7, 4-2) volleyball team was defeated by Ottawa (14-9, 5-0) in three sets — 23-25, 18-25, and 23-25 — in Thresher Gymnasium to tally their seventh loss of the season.
“We competed well against Ottawa,” junior Kaitlyn Shima from Topeka said. “For them to be a team who is receiving votes, we held our own. Of course, there’s always the expectation to win or take a couple of sets, but we couldn't pull it off tonight.”
Head coach Adriana Leake was pleased with the team’s performance against the defending back-to-back KCAC champions.
“They were a great team and we played a pretty solid game,” Leake said. “I was a little disappointed in the end because we had opportunities to win and we weren't able to execute, but we held them to really low hitting percentages and kill numbers which showed our level of preparedness and focus. Overall I felt very proud of our competitiveness and the fight that we showed.”
Although the Threshers were defeated, this was the first of four home games straight and they feel ready to continue improving on what needs to be fixed and look forward to competing hard in the upcoming conference games.
“Offense is a big piece we've been focusing on because being able to generate kills is the biggest difference maker between the mid-level teams and the top teams,” Leake said. “I feel like we're on the right track, but we have a couple of players that we need to put more balls away each game in order to balance out our attack and they're committed to growing in that.
We're also spending a lot of time getting better at blocking which gives our defense a better chance to make a good play on the ball which then leads to better opportunities on offense.”
Shima is ready for the homestand given the support of the Stone Zone. “We have a long stretch of home games coming up which is exciting because we have the best student section in the nation,” Shima said.
Shima had 16 assists and 12 digs in the loss to Ottawa followed by senior Mia Loganbill with 13 kills and three blocks. Senior Julie Wilhite had two aces and five blocks while junior Kyla Carter had seven kills.
The Threshers will be back in action against Bethany in Thresher Gymnasium at 1 and 3 p.m. this Saturday.