MOORHEAD, Minn. – A breakout offensive performance earned the Bethel University volleyball team a four-set victory Wednesday night over Concordia College. Hitting a season-best .385 attacking percentage, the Royals defeated the host Cobbers by scores of 25-17, 25-19, 22-25, 25-23.

Now 16-10 on the year the Royals get back to the .500 mark in MIAC play at 5-5 leaving Saturday's matchup against St. Catherine a big one for playoff implications. For the Royals to make their sixth consecutive MIAC playoffs they will have to defeat the Wildcats on senior night.

Junior Macie Gavic had a breakout night with a career-high 19 kills hitting .567 for the match. Junior Maria Claflin was right behind her with 17 kills while Allie Fauth added nine. Freshman Kirstin Cotter found a rhythm early knocking down eight kills.

In one of its best offensive nights of the year, Bethel started out on a strong note hitting .640 in the opening set. The Royals knocked down 18 kills on 25 attacking attempts highlighted by Gavic and Cotter. Three kills from Cotter helped the Royals open a 7-3 lead. Bethel took the opening set thanks to seven kills from Gavic, three of which came as the Royals final points.

As if things couldn't get any better, they did for the Royals in the second. Hitting .485 with 20 kills the Royals went up two sets to none. Bethel still hit exceptionally well in the third but were narrowly beat out by the Cobbers.

In the fourth, Bethel responded to Concordia's 4-0 opening run tying it up at 8-8. Down the stretch a four-point run by Bethel gave them a 23-19 lead before getting to match point on a kill from Hannah Wilhite. The Cobbers rallied off four of their own before Wilhite knocked down the match-winning kill.