ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — The Bethel University volleyball team advanced to the MIAC semifinals after pulling out a four set victory over sixth seeded St. Olaf on Tuesday night. The Royals dropped the opening set by a score of 25-14, before rallying to win the final three sets by scores of 25-16, 33-31 and 25-21, taking the match 3-1.
Set one:
The Royals found themselves down 5-1 early in the opening set, battling back on a
Peyton Howie kill to cut the deficit to 6-4. From there the Oles quickly extended their lead to 9-5, before a 9-0 run made it a 16-5 St.Olaf advantage. A pair of kills from
Grace Solberg and
Brenna Stark helped stop the Ole rally, but it was too much to overcome as St.Olaf took the set 25-14.
Set two:
Bethel battled back grabbing a 7-4 lead on three
Grace Solberg kills, from there a 7-2 run and two more
Grace Solberg kills put the Royals firmly in front 15-9. A quick 4-0 run followed, ending with two consecutive aces from
Brenna Stark to extend the Royal lead to nine.
Grace Therrien grabbed two consecutive aces of her own to open a 24-14 BU advantage and send the Royals to set point, taking it by a 25-16 final to even up the match.
Set three:
The third set proved to be a back-and-forth battle with the teams trading points early on and
Grace Solberg coming up with a kill to tie it at five. From there the Oles put together a 5-1 run to jump ahead 10-6. The Royals responded by putting together a 7-2 run of their own taking a 13-12 lead on a
Grace Solberg kill. Adding on with another 5-0 run to make it a 18-13 BU advantage. Down 24-22 late the Royals grabbed three quick points to take a 25-22 lead. From there the teams traded blows, down 28-27
Grace Solberg came up with a key kill to tie it up, with the Royals taking the set 33-31 on an Ole attack error.
Set four:
The Royals quickly took control in set four, using an 8-1 run and a pair of
Eleanor Pelzel kills to take a 12-4 lead. Later in the set
Peyton Howie came up with a kill to extend the Bethel lead to 21-12, the Oles cut the Bethel lead to just three after a 8-2 run.
Grace Solberg sent the Royals to match point with a kill, coming up with another to close it out 25-21. Taking the match 3-1.
Grace Solberg led the way for the Royals, with a career high 22 kills and .404 hitting percentage in the win.
Eleanor Pelzel had 14 kills and a .333 hitting percentage, with
Peyton Howie tallying 13 kills of her own.
Brenna Stark came up with 4 kills and a career high 54 assists as well.
Up next:
The Royals now head to the MIAC semifinals where the matchup with St.Kate's on Thursday night Nov. 14 in St.Paul. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets for that match can be purchased by
clicking here.
