Bethel University Athletics

10/14/2017 4:27:00 PM /

Volleyball

Bethel Closes North Central Tournament 3-1 with Saturday Split

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Bethel University's volleyball team finished the 2017 Tiffany Robinson Tournament 3-1 after splitting Saturday afternoon's matches against St. Lawrence University and UW-Oshkosh. The Royals (15-5) cruised to a 3-0 sweep over the Saints (15-9) by scores of 25-14, 25-22, and 25-15, but fell to the Titans (13-13) in their tournament finale by scores of 24-26, 25-22, 15-25, and 23-25.
 
BU hit .297 against SLU, while forcing their opponents to hit .049. The Royals totaled 52.0 points on 42 kills, six aces, and four blocks, while also amassing 37 assists and 35 digs.
 
Kristin Stern led Bethel for the fourth consecutive match with 11 kills and one block, while also hitting .286. Karin Canakes hit a blistering .727 on her way to eight kills and two blocks. Brooke Olstad posted four kills and a team-high 11 digs, while Tina Hoppe recorded five kills and five digs. Bailey Israelson led all players with 23 assists and Morgan Johnson added eight.
 
Bethel hit .200 against UW-Oshkosh, while allowing the Titans to hit .267. The Royals tallied 67.0 points on 50 kills, seven aces, and 10 blocks, while accumulating 47 assists and 65 digs.
 
BU trailed Oshkosh 21-23 in the opening set but rallied for three consecutive points after their final timeout. The Titans followed suit, though, as they scored the final three points after calling their last timeout of the frame for the 26-24 victory.
 
Bethel went up 19-14 in the second, but UW-O came back to make it 19-19 in the frame before the Royals rallied for a 25-22 victory. The Titans went up 2-1 with a 25-15 triumph in the third set and BU rallied back from a 10-4 deficit in the fourth to lead 23-22 late, but Oshkosh closed out the match with a 25-23 win.
 
Tina Hoppe led Bethel with 14 kills, 13 digs, three blocks, and a .286 hitting percentage, while Kristin Stern collected 12 kills, three blocks, two aces, and a hitting clip of .276. Macie Gavic totaled seven kills, three blocks, and a .278 hitting percentage, while Brooke Olstad recorded also recorded seven kills, six digs, three aces, and three blocks. Maria Claflin gathered seven kills and three blocks.
 
Bailey Israelson led the Royals with 31 assists, nine digs, and one service ace, while Mikayla Morrow finished with 11 assists and seven digs. Dominique Dabu tied a match-high with 21 digs.
 
The next two weeks are huge for BU. The Royals closeout the regular season with four matches against MIAC opponents and two against solid nonconference foes. Bethel likely needs three more league wins to make the playoffs and at least four wins overall to be considered for the NCAA tournament. The tall task begins with Wednesday's conference contest against Macalester at 7 p.m. in the Robertson Center Gym.