ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — The Bethel University volleyball team opened MIAC conference play Wednesday night with a thrilling five set victory over St.Olaf. Extending the Royals winning streak to six games, winning by scores of  25-23, 25-15, dropping the third and fourth set 25-16 and 25-19, before winning the fifth set 18-16 taking the match 3-2. The Royals improve their record to 8-3 on the year. 
 
First set:
 
A kill from Grace Solberg opened up an early 4-3 Royals lead, in a tightly contested first set that saw eight lead changes. A Hannah Penke kill tied the game at 15, before the Oles opened up a 22-20 lead late. The Royals eventually tied the set at 23, where Peyton Howie came up with a pair of kills to win the set 25-23. 
 
Second set:
 
Grace Solberg came up with a kill to give the Royals an early 5-2 advantage in the second set. St.Olaf eventually narrowed the gap to 11-9, before a 6-1 Royals' run opened up a 17-10 lead. Another 6-1 Bethel run followed, capped off with a kill from Brenna Stark. BU went on to win the second set in dominant fashion 25-15. 
 
Third set:
 
Bethel grabbed a quick 4-0 lead to begin the third set, Grace Solberg later tied the game at seven with a kill followed by an Ellie Van Namen ace to take an 8-7 lead. A 10-2 Ole run put Bethel behind 17-11 however, with the Royals dropping the third set 25-16. 
 
Fourth set:
 
Hannah Penke came up with a pair of key kills to tie the fourth set at four early, before the Oles took a 9-6 lead. Bethel battled back tying the set at 12 on back-to-back kills from Peyton Howie, Grace Solberg later came up with a kill to cut the deficit to three. The Royals dropped the third set by a score of 25-19 forcing a match deciding fifth set. 
 
Fifth set:
 
The final set began with the Royals taking advantage of a 5-1 run to open a 6-4 lead on a kill from Ellie Van Namen. Later falling behind 10-7, before kills from Hannah Penke and Peyton Howie tied the set at 10. A Hannah Penke kill pushed the Royals' lead to 14-12 forcing the set point. The set ended on a Grace Solberg kill followed by an Ole attack error to take the set 18-16 and the match 3-2. 
 
Grace Solberg tallied 20 kills for the Royals, while Peyton Howie came up with 16 kills of her own. Hannah Penke racked up 15 kills and 1 assist, while Brenna Stark had 31 assists and 1 kill and Ellien Van Namen earned 17 assists and 5 kills. 
 
Up Next: 
 
The Royals now travel to Washington, D.C for a slate of games, beginning with a match against Gallaudet University on Friday Sept. 27 at 3 p.m. EST.