ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Bethel University volleyball team saw its 2023 season come to end following a four-set loss at St. Catherine Monday evening in the MIAC Quarterfinals. The Royals took the opening set from the Wildcats before dropping the next three to fall by scores of 25-18, 23-25, 15-25, 17-25.
BU finishes the season an 11-15 overall record.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
• Bethel came out swinging in the opening set hitting .325 and limiting themselves to only two attacking errors on 40 swings.
• The host Wildcats built a 7-4 lead before a string of three straight kills from
Peyton Howie gave BU the advantage 10-9.
• Five of the sets 11 ties would come from that point until the Royals forced SCU into multiple attacking errors.
• The Royals took the final seven points ending with a block from
Abigail Drury for the 25-18 win.
Second Set
• Set two opened with a BU four-point run, responded by a four-point run of St. Kate's.
• The 10th and final tie came at 21-21 before St. Kate's took the lead for good.
• BU fended off set point with a Wildcats' attacking error until SCU garnered a kill on the next rally taking it by the smallest margin, 25-23.
Third Set
• Bethel struggled finding a rhythm at the net in set three with only nine kills and nine attacking errors for a .000 hitting percentage. On the other side of the net, St. Kate's hit .269, its best of the night.
• SCU used an early five-point run to take an 8-5 lead and Bethel could never recover from there.
• A kill by
Eleanor Pelzel got the Royals within 19-14 but five straight from St. Kate's all but took care of the set.
Fourth Set
• A comeback effort began early with the Royals racing out to a 7-1 advantage with kills from
Dani Friedges and
Natalie Hallstrom.
• Bethel was clinging to a 14-10 lead until the tides quickly turned with an eight-point run for the Wildcats giving them an 18-14 lead.
• The Royals struggled to find an answer as SCU went on a six-point run setting up match point.
• A kill from Hallstrom and a block from Howie and
Breanna Vermeer kept the hopes alive until the Wildcats earned match point with a kill.
KEY PERFORMERS
•
Dani Friedges – 12 kills, 16 digs
•
Brenna Stark – 34 assists
•
Devanie Andre – 15 digs
