Grace Bible College had a big home opener weekend starting on Friday against the Lions of Finlandia University.
The Tigers, with aggressive offense and solid serve receive, claimed the match victory 3-1 with scores of 25-17, 22-25, 25-23, 25-16. Meagan Pifer was awarded the gameball for her intimidating blocking presence, coachability, and aggressively adapting to respond to the talented offensive Lion line.
Notable contributions against Finlandia: Team total 36 kills and 49 digs. Kill leaders: Amy Leszinske (12), Adrianna Bunce (8), Ashley Bearden(6). Bearden also collected 28 set assists & lead the team in aces with 4. Meagan Pifer led in blocks; team total of 12.
Grace returned to their home court on Saturday against Lake Michigan College and Mount Mary University.
After winning the first set 25-19, the next three sets, while close on the scoreboard, slipped away from the Tigers resulting in a 1-3 loss with scores of 25-19, 17-25, 17-25, 21-25.
Notable contributions against LMC: Kill leaders- Adrianna Bunce and Amy Leszinske with 19 and 14 respectively. Ashley Bearden earned 37 set assists and Emma Summerfield contributed an impressive 18 digs.
As soon as Grace took the court for their second match of the day they found their grit and determination and finished the day strong. Clearly unified, the Tigers took three straight sets from Mount Mary with scores of 25-12, 25-11, 25-18.
Notable contributions against MMU: Nine team aces; 30 kills team kills led by Melinda Thomas with 7. Robin Gould, Adrianna Bunce, and Ashley Bearden with 5 a piece. Bearden had 19 set assists; Summerfield with 18 digs.
"We are proud of the turnaround we saw today from game one to game two," Coach Becky Karsten noted. "It's not easy to bounce back the way we did and it's a true testament to the team's ability to re-group and find renewed focus. We learned from from the first game, implemented changes well and finished together as an entire team."
As always, a big shout out to our fantastic fans for cheering us on and participating in our home game themes. The Tigers are back in action against WHAC competitor U of M Dearborn on Tuesday 9/20. The game theme is BLACK OUT!!! Wear black cage crew!
On Thursday GBCVB hits the road for a weekend up north for round two against Finlandia University and 2015 NCCAA II National Champion, Maranatha Baptist University.
