ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - Bethel's extraordinary season continued Tuesday night when they took on Carleton in the first round of the MIAC playoffs.  The fourth seeded Royals defeated the fifth seeded Knights 3-0 to keep their hopes of a NCAA tournament bid alive.

Tonight's match was the third between Bethel and Carleton this season.  The Royals lost 3-2 in the championship match of the Northwestern College Tournament early in the season, but defeated the Knights 3-0 in Northfield on Oct. 10, when Carleton was ranked #18 nationally.

Liz Glesne (Sr., Underwood, MN) again showed why she's a two-time All-Conference selection by recording 17 kills, 7 digs, and 2 block assists.  Stephanie Schmidt (So., Montgomery, MN) added 13 kills and 6 block assists of her own in the effort. 

Laura Naig (Sr., Kasson, MN) had 43 of the team's 46 assists.  She, along with Joslin Geisler (Sr., Grand Rapids, MN), each had 17 digs as well.

Defensively, the Royals got a great performance from Jennifer Stoa (Jr., Brooklyn Park, MN) who had a solo block and 10 block assists.

Carleton was led by Samantha Hendricks who had 10 kills, a service ace, and a block assist.

Bethel jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first game and never looked back on their way to a 30-17 win.

Game two saw 12 ties and 5 lead changes, but the Royals eventually prevailed 30-28.

Carleton, in do-or-die mode, was able to come within one point of Bethel late in the third game, but a Knight attack error on match point gave the Royals the victory, 30-27.

Bethel improves to 23-7 overall with the win and will take on #1 seed St. Thomas on Thursday at 7 p.m. at St. Thomas.