OSKALOOSA, Iowa – Adam Brewster took his squad to Oskaloosa, Iowa this past weekend to compete in the William Penn Labor Day Invitational, where they had the opportunity to face competition from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), Heart of America Athletic Conference, and the American Midwest Conference (AMC). Tabor headed into the weekend after dropping Tuesday's match to Baker in three sets.
 
Match One vs Mount Marty: L 1-3 (14-25, 25-21, 14-25, 19-25)
 
Things got off to a slow start for the Bluejays as they quickly dropped Set One to the 4-1 Lancers. Three kills by Sammie Saunders highlighted Tabor's play in the first set.
 
Set Two was a different story, as the Lady Bluejays came out of the gate hot, building an early 6-1 lead, before building up leads of 11-5 and 17-9. Mount Marty looked to mount a comeback, but that effort fell short as TC took Set Two, 25-21. Five kills from Saunders and four kills from Katie Hofer served as key statistics in Set Two.
 
Mount Marty regrouped and flipped the momentum their way, as the Bluejays fell, 14-25 in Set Three. Once again, Saunders was the top contributor on offense from a scoring standpoint, while Mia Maly dished out seven assists to lead to team.
 
Set Four looked to be a good way for TC to get back on track, as the two teams paced each other throughout the set. The teams were locked in a tie at 18, before the Lancers went on a seven-point scoring run, ultimately downing the Bluejays in the fourth set, 25-19. Tabor dropped to 1-5 on the season following the loss.
 
Match Two vs William Penn: L 0-3 (17-25, 14-25, 25-27)
 
Tabor met the Statesmen in their second date in a week, with WPU taking the previous match, 3-1. 
 
WPU took Set One, 25-17, before quickly dominating the Bluejays in the second set, 25-14. TC put up an impressive fight in Set Three, with multiple chances to win the set and stay alive in the match, but ultimately fell, 25-27 with the Statesmen taking the three-set sweep.
 
Match Three vs Hannibal-LaGrange: L W 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-14)
 
The Bluejays had a much easier time with Hannibal-LaGrange, although the Trojans did not make things easy in the first set. Tabor led, 19-17 in Set One until HLGU scored to cut TC's lead to one, but the Bluejays rattled off six straight points and never looked back, taking the set, 25-18.
 
Set Two was all Tabor, with the Lady Bluejays leading by as many as 12 before rolling to a 25-15 win in the set.
 
The third set looked a lot like the second, as TC easily slipped past Hannibal-LaGrange, 25-14 to win in a three-set rout.
 
Match Four vs Culver-Stockton: L 2-3 (25-10, 19-25, 25-21, 13-25, 13-15)
 
Tabor looked to capitalize on the momentum after knocking off Hannibal-LaGrange, and with the way things went in Set One, it seemed like things were going to be a lot similar. The Lady Bluejays dominated Set One, 25-10. 
 
The Wildcats took the second set, 25-19, and the Bluejays returned the favor in Set Three, 25-21. 
 
Culver-Stockton evened up the match by taking Set Four by a score of 25-13, sending the match to a fifth and final set. The fifth set added plenty of excitement and went down to the very, with Tabor falling in a heartbreaker, 13-15 and dropped to 2-7 overall with the loss.
 
The Lady Bluejays return to action this coming Friday as they welcome MidAmerica Nazarene to Hillsboro for a 6 PM match.
 
Be sure to stay up to date with all information regarding Bluejay Athletics by following us on X at @gotaborbluejays, on Instagram and Facebook @taborbluejays, and on our official athletic website, taborbluejays.com.
 
Tabor College is a Christ-centered institution located in Hillsboro, Kansas. The Bluejays are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and compete in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC).