ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - In hopes of their first conference victory, the Bethel Women's Volleyball squad took the court Saturday afternoon at the Robertson Center where they matched up against the 15th ranked, University of St. Thomas Tommies. Despite the Royals comeback in the third set, they fell just short of pushing the match to a decisive fifth set when they fell late in the fourth to the Tommies.

In the first set, Bethel came out matching point-for-point with St. Thomas until the Tommies strung a series of points together to take the set 25-15.

The Tommies momentum would carry over into the second set as the Royals just couldn't muster up any type of offense against the St. Thomas attack.

With their backs against the wall in the third set, the Royals found a way to fight back and take the set by a score of 25-21 to force a fourth set.

The momentum of the match had swayed into Bethel's favor now, with the Royals maintaining their good play from the third into the fourth. In another back-and-forth set, the Royals fell just short losing the 21-25 and the match 3-1.

Nicole Wriedt (Jr., Pewaukee, Wis.) led the Royals in kills on the afternoon with 10, while Amy Werner (So., Three Lakes, Wis.) chipped in with 9 of her own. Betsy Naatjes (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) collected 26 assists in the match, and Hannah Parks (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) and Valerie Smith (So., Alexandria, Minn.) both recorded double-digit dig totals, with Parks having 11 and Smith recording 10.

The Royals continue play next Wednesday when they will travel to Northfield, Minnesota to take on MIAC opponent Carleton College at 7 p.m.