MOORHEAD, Minn. – A long anticipated return – 501 days to be exact – for the Bethel University volleyball team was welcomed with a 3-0 sweep of Concordia Saturday afternoon by scores of 25-18, 25-15, 25-15.

Sophomore Kirstin Cotter led the way a match-high nine kills while freshman outside hitter Danielle Friedges was right behind her with eight. Hannah Wilhite tallied 21 assists while Ellie Hoyt finished with 16. Rylee Forshee finished with a match-high 19 digs.

Bethel (1-0) used three straight kills from Cotter taking a 5-2 lead. A strong sideout performance at 72 percent (13-18) and tallying 20 kills in the opening set where they hit .486 led the Royals to take it 25-18.

Concordia (0-1) took the first three points in set two before a couple of attacking errors on the Cobbers got the Royals back to 3-3. A nice run of six points midway through opened Bethel's lead to four points. A combination of CC attacking errors and kills from various Royals allowed BU to score 11 of the final 13 points in the set.

In the third, the Royals forced Concordia to hit a minimal .068. The set saw six ties and four lead changes as Bethel used a six-point run taking a 15-9 advantage. It was the run they needed before trading off points down the stretch before Macie Gavic sent down the game-winning kill.

The Royals are scheduled to take on Northwestern Monday, March 29 in a scrimmage before traveling to St. Thomas on Wednesday, March 31 for their MIAC opener at 7 p.m.