ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Bethel University volleyball team dropped their first conference game Saturday night on the road against St.Kate's. The Royals battled but ultimately lost in five sets to the Wildcats. Dropping the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-17, before winning the third and fourth sets 25-17 and 25-20, going on to lose the final set 15-8. The Royals fall to 7-1 in MIAC play and 17-6 overall.
Set one:
Hannah Penke gave the Royals an early 7-6 lead with a kill.
Hannah Penke later came up with another kill to give Bethel an 11-9 lead, before the Wildcats took a 17-15 lead.
Peyton Howie then cut the deficit to just one with a kill. With St.Kate leading 23-20 a
Sophie Jacques kill and
Hannah Penke ace made it 23-22, but the Wildcats took the set 25-22.
Set two:
Down 6-3 early,
Grace Solberg,
Brenna Stark and
Peyton Howie came up with three consecutive kills to tie the set at six. A 5-0 St.Kate's run put the Royals behind 12-7, before
Brenna Stark came up with a kill to narrow the gap to 12-9. The Royals went on to drop the set by a score of 25-17 however.
Set three:
Down 4-2 early in the third set, a 5-0 run capped off with a
Grace Solberg kill gave the Royals a 7-4 lead.
Grace Therrien finished off an 8-1 run with an ace to put Bethel ahead 15-9. The Wildcats went on a 5-1 run of their own to make it 16-14, before a 7-0 Royals run opened up a 23-14 advantage.
Grace Solberg finished it off with a kill as the Royals took set three 25-17.
Set four:
Grace Solberg came up with a pair of kills to give the Royals a 6-4 lead early in set four. A
Peyton Howie kill later extended the Royals lead to 13-8, with
Grace Solberg coming up with a kill of her own to make it 15-12. Kills from
Brenna Stark and
Sophie Jacques made it 23-17 Bethel and
Grace Solberg closed it out with a kill to take the set 25-20.
Set five:
The Royals fell behind 5-1 in the fifth set, cutting the deficit to two on a
Brenna Stark ace.
Grace Solberg came up with a kill to make it cut the Wildcat lead to 8-5, but the Royals were unable to close the gap dropping the final set 15-8 and the match 3-2.
Peyton Howie collected 21 kills and 2 assists, while
Grace Solberg tallied 17 kills of her own.
Brenna Stark racked up season high 48 assists and
Hannah Penke collected 23 digs.
Up next:
The Royals head home to take on Wartburg College at home Tuesday Oct. 29 in the Robertson Center Gym. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
