NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Bethel University volleyball hit the road Friday night, heading to Northfield for a matchup with Carleton College. The Royals won the first two sets by scores of 25-12 and 26-24. Before dropping sets three and four by scores of 25-20 and 25-21, Bethel took the match deciding fifth set by a score of 15-13. Winning the match 3-2, growing their win streak to five games and improving to 13-4.
Set one:
The Royals claimed an early 9-4 advantage on a kill from
Hannah Penke, from there Bethel expanded their lead to 13-9. A 10-1 run later gave the Royals a commanding 23-10 lead,
Grace Solberg came up with a kill making it a 12 point Bethel lead, before a Carleton attack error gave Bethel the opening set 25-12. Bethel dominated on both offense and defense in set one limiting the Knights to a 0.0 hitting percentage while putting up a .312 hitting percentage themselves.
Set two:
Bethel fell behind 7-4 early in the second set, cutting the deficit to just one on a kill by
Peyton Howie to make it an 11-10.
Peyton Howie later gave Bethel the lead with an ace to make it 15-14. A kill by
Grace Solberg and an ace from
Ellie Van Namen tied the set at 18, with the Royals eventually taking a 23-21 lead on a pair of
Lauren Hetfeld aces. The Knights tied the set at 24, but a
Peyton Howie kill and a Carleton attack error gave Bethel the second set by a score of 26-24.
Set three:
Grace Solberg came up with an early kill to tie the third set at five. A pair of kills from
Peyton Howie then opened up an 8-5 Royals advantage. A 7-0 run from the Knights followed however, putting Bethel behind 13-8. The Royals cut the deficit to two on an
Ellie Van Namen kill, but never caught Carleton dropping the set 25-20.
Set four:
Bethel tied the fourth set at five early behind a
Brenna Stark kill, but surrendered a 9-2 run to Carleton falling behind 14-7. Before going on an 8-1 run of their own capped off with a
Grace Solberg kill to tie it at 15. Down 24-18 late Bethel cut the Knights lead to just three on kills from
Hannah Penke and
Brenna Stark. The Royals dropped the set 25-21 however, forcing a fifth set.
Set five:
Grace Solberg tied set five at seven with a kill, starting a 5-1 Royals run to open a 11-8 advantage. Carleton tied the deciding set at 13 late, before
Peyton Howie came up with two consecutive kills to give the Royals the final set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
Peyton Howie led the way for the Royals, racking up 21 kills.
Grace Solberg followed with 13 kills,
Brenna Stark collected 32 assists and
Grace Therrien came away with 30 digs.
Up next:
The Royals look to continue their winning ways against another conference opponent as they take on the Hamline Pipers on the road Wednesday Oct. 9. With first serve set for 7 p.m.
