ARDEN HILLS, MINN.—For the third-straight season, the Bethel University Royals and St. Catherine Wildcats have faced off in the MIAC Volleyball Playoffs.
Third time was a charm, as the No. 4 seed Royals defeated the No. 5 seed Wildcats 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-22) in the MIAC Quarterfinal at the Robertson Center Gymnasium on Tuesday night.Â
Bethel will advance to their second-straight MIAC Playoff Semifinal at top-seed St. Olaf on Thursday, November 13 at 7 p.m. The Royals improve to 15-10, while the Wildcats fall to 10-17.
Bethel 3, St. Catherine 1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-22)
Peyton Howie registered six kills in the opening frame. One of them gave Bethel a 12-11 advantage, and their largest cushion at 15-13. This ignited a Wildcat squad who responded with seven kills and capitalized on four attack errors in a 12-4 run that secured them a 25-19 win over the Royals.
The second frame resulted in 14 kills and a .231 hitting percentage for Bethel. Howie and Sara Scherber each had five kills in a frame that saw Bethel lead from start-to-finish in a 25-20 win in set two.Â
Back-to-back kills from Hannah Penke and Scherber gave the Royals their first lead of set three at 7-6. It also kick started an 11-2 run that put them in the driver's seat for good in a 25-18 win.
The fourth set resulted in 19 kills and a .395 hitting percentage for the Royals. Howie and Hannah Penke were each responsible for six kills in the frame. However, St. Catherine's latest lead occurred a 21-20 behind Emma Nordeen's kill. This sparked a Bethel squad who responded with four kills in the 5-1 run that locked a 25-22 victory, and 3-1 match win.
Peyton Howie finished with 22 kills, four blocks and a .514 hitting percentage for Bethel, while first-year Sophia Rubio added 46 assists and 13 digs. Grace Therrien had 19 digs and one ace. Mattie Petersen prevailed with three aces for the Royals, who hit .245 in the match.
Madison Fagan and Marta Haugen each had 12 kills for the Wildcats.
