CARTHAGE, Wis. – An early morning bus ride from Arden Hills, Minn. to Carthage, Wis. took no toll on the Bethel University volleyball team who went 2-0 on the opening day of the Carthage College Invitational. The highlight of the night was BU upending No. 5-ranked and previously unbeaten Carthage in five sets after defeating Wisconsin-Platteville in straight sets.
 
Bethel is off to a 6-1 start for the sixth time in eight seasons, one of those seasons being a shortened spring season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The Royals makes a quick turnaround facing Milwaukee School of Engineering at 10 a.m. before facing off against No. 19 Wisconsin-Whitewater at 2 p.m.
 
#RV Bethel 3, No. 5 Carthage 2 | 25-20, 34-32, 20-25, 23-25, 15-10
Bethel picked the right time to earn its first-ever program victory over Carthage. It also marks the Royals highest ranked win since at least 2010.
 
Getting that first set is always key against a ranked opponent on the road. Especially one that hadn't loss a home match since Oct. 30, 2018. BU recovered from an early 5-1 deficit eventually as a service ace from Danielle Friedges tied it at 14-14. Another four-point run and BU led 20-15 before scoring three of the final four points.
 
A marathon set two saw 10 ties and five lead changes. Bethel fended off set point at 24-22 evening the advantage on a pair of Carthage attacking errors. The Royals garnered their first lead since taking the opening point of the set 28-27. A back and forth affair, the Royals were sent scrambling on a few rallies but got back in system. A kill by Hannah Wilhite ended what felt like a never ending set, 34-32, putting the Royals up two sets.
 
The Firebirds clawed their way back into it taking the third set and a tight fourth.
 
It was the fifth that Bethel showed they weren't leaving without the W. The Royals went up 5-1 forcing Carthage to take a timeout. That helped the Firebirds as they got within two at 7-5. BU would never let them get any closer coming away with a hard earned victory.
 
Allie Fauth put in a double-double effort with a season-high 14 kills and 18 digs. Friedges also tallied a season-high 14 kills to go along with 13 digs. Hannah Wilhite had a career-high 53 assists while completing the double-double with 13 digs. Kelsie Sealock had a match-high 33 digs.
 
#RV Bethel 3, Wis.-Platteville 0 | 25-22, 25-16, 25-9
The Royals had one of their best nights at the net hitting a season-best .337 tallying 37 kills on 86 attempts with only three errors. It was BU's fifth three-set victory of the year.
 
Cotter and Fauth lead the Royals with nine kills each while Hannah Wilhite tallied 33 assists.
 
After being tied 3-3, a service ace from Mina Wimmer kept Bethel in front the rest of the way. A seven point run opened the advantage to 15-7. Another service ace, this time from Sealock secured the opening set.
 
Set two played much closer to begin with 10 ties and five lead changes knotting the teams as 12-12. An attacking error from the Pioneers gave BU the lead for the remainder of the set finishing it off with four straight points.
 
The third was all Bethel hitting .321 for the set. BU opened up a big lead before scoring 11 of the final 12 points in the match.