WHITEWATER, Wis.—Bethel University's volleyball team competed in a rare late-October nonconference doubleheader Saturday afternoon and evening in Whitewater, Wisconsin—the home of BU's NCAA region championship in 2015. The Royals (17-10) faced Millikin University and UW-Whitewater—both ranked among the AVCA's Top 26 teams—and came away with a split thanks to a gutsy 3-2 win over Millikin (23-11) and a 3-1 loss against the hosting Warhawks (25-6).
Bethel defeated the Big Blue by a final score of 3-2 in the opening match of the day. BU dropped the first set 20-25, but came back to win 25-17 and 25-21 in the second and third frames. Millikin knotted the match at 2-2 with a 25-10 victory in the fourth before Bethel outlasted their opponent 15-13 in the fifth.
Callie Sinclair led the Royals in kills with 18 slams and a .292 hitting percentage, while fellow outside hitter
Carlee Hoppe recorded 15 kills, 18 digs, and a .262 hitting percentage. The double-double was Hoppe's 11th of the season.
Dominique Dabu tallied a team-high 25 digs for the Royals, while
Holly Ellwanger and
Katie Lubben contributed 30 and 17 assists. Both Lubben and Ellwanger composed a double-double as well, as Lubben finished with 13 digs and Ellwanger 10.
Bethel's second match of the day started very similar to the first as the two teams were tied after two sets, but No. 14-ranked UW-Whitewater closed out the Royals with a 25-21 win in the third and a 25-19 victory in the fourth.
Tina Hoppe led BU in the evening match with 16 kills and a blistering .467 hitting percentage, while sister
Carlee Hoppe posted 12 kills and 12 digs.
Callie Sinclair added seven kills, 15 digs, and three serving aces.
Dominique Dabu equaled Sinclair's 15 digs with her own 15 throughout the match.
Holly Ellwanger posted nine, alongside a team-high 27 assists, and
Katie Lubben finished with nine digs and 10 assists.
Back in conference action, it was Saint Benedict losing at Concordia Saturday, which gave the Cobbers the No. 6 seed heading into the MIAC Playoffs and Bethel the No. 5 seed. As a result, BU will travel to Winona once again to take on Saint Mary's University Tuesday night at 7 p.m.