ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Bethel University volleyball team staged a remarkable five-set victory over St. Catherine in a thrilling senior night match held at the Robertson Center. Bethel displayed exceptional resilience securing the win by scores of 17-25, 25-18, 25-19, 23-25, and 15-13.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- St. Catherine gained an early advantage, leading at 4-3 after a service error by Bethel.
- Abigail Drury's kills and Dani Friedges' powerful attacks contributed to closing the gap as BU got within 19-15.
- St. Kate's went on to the score the set's final three points taking the opener 25-17.
Second Set
- A kill by Abigail Drury from a setup by Brenna Stark allowed Bethel to take an early lead at 3-1.
- Their offensive plays, led by Friedges and Marley Webb, allowed them to maintain control of the set leading 17-14 midway through.
- Bethel remained resolute scoring seven of the final nine points closing out the set with a score of 25-18
Third Set
- Olivia Johnson's service ace and a strong attacking strategy allowed Bethel to establish an early 9-5 advantage.
- St. Kate's pulled within one at 17-16, before the Royals took advantage of the Wildcat's errors late handing BU a 25-19 decision.
- The Royals held SCU to a .086 hitting percentage while hitting .206 themselves.
Fourth Set
- St. Catherine came out strong gaining an early 7-2 lead.
- A few late runs for Bethel got the SCU margin down to three a handful of times but the damage had been done.
- SCU forced a fifth an decisive set with its 15th kill of the set where they hit .209 and held BU to .174
Fifth Set
- Playing in its second fifth set match in as many nights, BU found themselves down early again 5-2. But rebounded nicely with three straight kills from Friedges tying it up.
- Back-to-back kills form Drury opened up the advantage to 12-9 before the Wildcats rattled off three straight tying it back up.
- BU went up two before the Wildcats fended off set point. But on a chaotic rally that put the Wildcats out of system, a ball handling error would seal the win for BU, 15-13.
KEY PERFORMERS
UP NEXT
The Royals travel to Saint Mary's Friday, Oct. 27 for a MIAC match starting at 7 p.m.
