McPherson, KS - The Comets dropped a five-set thriller to McPherson College to split the first day in Kansas. The Comets move to 3-2 on the regular season.
Game One:
The Comets and Swedes were tied at three and the first set and then Mayville State 4-1 run to get an 8-4 lead. MSU would go on a 6-0 run in the middle stages of the set to extend to a 14-6 lead. Bethany would close the game to two at 24-22 before Kaitlin Leier put the finishing touches on the first set.
Mayville State was up 6-5 in the second set before the Comets went on a 7-2 run to get a 13-6. The Comets would cruise to a second set victory 25-16. Bethany College would win the third set by a final score of 23-25 to extend the game to a fourth set.
Mayville State would start the fourth set on a 7-3 run. The Swedes would tie the game at 7 with a 4-0 mini-run. The Comets put some separation between Bethany with a 7-1 run capped off by a kill from Elora Passa. The Comets were up 21-14 before the Swedes went on a 7-3 run to close the gap to 24-21. Victoria Johnson finished the game with her 20th kill.
The Comets finished the game with 50 kills with 17 errors on 134 attempts for a hitting percentage of .246. Mayville State tallied eight blocks, 42 assists, 61 digs, and a season-high six aces. Johnson finished with 20 kills and a .457 hitting percentage.
Ashley Pyburn finished the game with 11 kills, four blocks, and a .450 hitting percentage. Rachel Hill recorded 20 assists and eight digs. Elora Passa tallied three kills, 17 assists, and 12 digs. Mason Hart led the back row with 15 digs. Amy Siem finished with 13 digs.
Game Two:
The Comets started the first set with a 7-2 run before the Bulldogs made a comeback and tied the game at nine. The Bulldogs would go on a mini 4-0 run in the middle of the first set to take a 17-14 lead. McPherson College took the first set by a final of 25-21.
It was back-and-forth for the first 17 points in the second set before McPherson College took a five-point lead at 8-13. The Bulldogs would have a mini-run in the latter part of the second set to take an 11-20 lead. The Comets would drop the second set by a final score of 19-25.
The Comets were on the verge of losing in straight sets before a kill by Johnson that sparked a 5-1 run to close the gap to one late in the third set. Mayville State would be down 22-23 before three straight points by the Comets to take set three 25-23 capped off by a service ace by Amy Seim.
Mayville State would break the tie at seven with a kill from Pyburn that sparked a 4-0 run to take an 11-7 lead. The game was tied at 20 before the Bulldogs went on a 4-1 run to have three match points. Three straight kills by Johnson gave the Comets a 25-24 lead. MSU would take game four and force a game five.
Comets and Bulldogs trade the first 12 points before McPherson went on a 3-1 run to take a 9-7 lead. Mayville State would score the next two points to tie the game at nine. The Comets had one match point at 14-13 but an attacking error tied the game and the Bulldogs would score the next two points to take the fifth set and the match.
The Comets finished with 64 kills, 33 errors on 219 attempts for a .142 hitting percentage. They also finished the game with 14 blocks, 56 assists, 94 digs, and six aces. Johnson led the Comets in game two with 23 kills and seven blocks. Amy Seim finished the game with a team-high 31 digs in the back row. Lily Pyle and Passa each tallied 11 kills in a five-set loss. Passa also recorded 31 assists and seven digs.
The Comets are back in action tomorrow morning for two games as they face Kansas Wesleyan and Central Christian College. The first serve is set for 9 am and 11 am tomorrow from McPherson, Kansas.
