ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Bethel University volleyball team finished off their own Invitational Saturday by sweeping two more opponents in straight sets, the Luther College Norse and University of Wisconsin-Stout Blue Devils. For the weekend Bethel went 4-0 winning all 12 sets.
The Royals started the day off facing the Luther College Norse. In the first set Bethel blew open what was a tight game at 12-10 by closing on a 13-1 run to win 25-11. The Norse rebounded to start off the second set with a 4-0 lead. Bethel would come back to tie things up at 8-8 and then went on a 5-0 run to take a 13-8 advantage. The Norse would again right the ship however and came back to take a 20-16 lead. The Royals clawed their way back to get within one at 21-20. Luther then looked to be pulling away at 23-20 but again the Royals went on a big run, this time rattling off five straight points to steal the set from the Norse at 25-23 and take the 2-0 lead. The Royals incredible comeback seemed to take the wind out of the Norse' sails as Bethel never trailed in the third set and went on to win 25-16.
Tina Hoppe and
Karin Canakes both totaled 10 kills for the Royals while
Hannah Wilhite dished out 30 assists.
Brooke Olstad and Mariah Claflin both hit over .350 for the game adding seven and five kills respectively.
Bethel then turned their attention to UW-Stout and started out with a solid first set win 25-22. The Royals then dominated the second set, never trailing while leading by as many as 11 points, before finishing with a 25-18 win. The third set was much tighter throughout but again the Royals maintained a slight advantage nearly the entire way, finishing with another 25-22 victory to complete the sweep.
Maria Claflin hit an amazing .524 in the win, leading the way with 11 kills.
Hannah Wilhite recorded 40 assists to go along with six kills and a .500 attack percentage.
The Royals will now turn their attention towards their first MIAC road contest of the year as they travel to St. Paul to take on the St. Catherine's University Wildcats at 7 p.m.