McPherson, Kan. — Bethel Volleyball fell in three sets in the KCAC Championship to No. 9 Oklahoma Wesleyan on Saturday night in McPherson.
SEMIFINALS
On Friday night, Bethel defeated Evangel to advance to the KCAC Championship for the first time under head coach Adriana Leake. Offerle was dominant once again in one of the biggest matches of the year, finishing with 25 kills to send Bethel to Saturday's title match.
SET 1
Bethel held an early 15–11 lead and appeared to be in control. OKWU battled back to take a 17–16 lead before Landree Merriman answered with a kill to tie it at 17–17. Oklahoma Wesleyan then scored the final eight points of the set, with the last seven coming on the serve of KCAC Player of the Year, Evelyn Rohrberg. Bethel committed three attack errors during OKWU's closing run.
SET 2
Bethel again started strong, jumping out to a 7–2 lead before an OKWU timeout. Offerle led the charge with a block assist and a kill, while Abby Koontz added an ace during the run. Bethel extended its lead to 12–8 midway through the set. OKWU responded with four straight points to tie it at 12–12 before Offerle stopped the run with a kill to make it 13–12.
The set continued back and forth, with neither team winning more than two points in a row until another Offerle kill made it 20–19 OKWU. However, OKWU finished strong once again, scoring the final five points to take a 2–0 lead.
SET 3
Oklahoma Wesleyan controlled the third set from the start and never looked back, leading 17–6 at one point. The Eagles won the set 25–11 to claim the KCAC Championship.
RECAP
Bethel held leads early in multiple sets but was unable to close them out. KCAC Player of the Year Evelyn Rohrberg was dominant for the Eagles and a major factor in OKWU's tournament run, during which they did not drop a single set.
The Threshers showed tremendous fight and resilience going up against one of the NAIA's best teams and players. They proved throughout this tournament that they can compete with anyone.
The student support was tremendous, with McPherson College's stands filled with Bethel students who made the 30-minute drive.
STATS
UP NEXT
Bethel will now wait to see whether their season continues with a national tournament berth — which would be their first since 2008.
The selection show is today at 4:00 PM on the NAIA YouTube Channel. (LINK ABOVE)
