NEW ULM, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran volleyball team began play in the 2016 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Postseason Tournament on Monday night against their conference rival in Martin Luther. In front of an large energetic crowd at MLC, it was the Knights surviving and advancing to the next round of the tournament. The Knights defeated the Vikings in five sets (25-19, 9-25, 29-27, 15-25, 14-16).
 
Martin Luther entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed, posting a regular season record of 10-21 and 5-3 conference record. The Vikings traveled to MLC as the No. 5 seed with an overall record of 9-16 and 4-4 mark in conference play.
 
During the high intensity playoff contest, the Bethany Vikings finished with four players reaching double figures in kills. Leading the way was Megan Rutt (Le Center, Minn.) with 19 kills. The freshman finished the match with a hitting percentage of .250%. Rachel Sorensen (Windom, Minn.) and Kristen Mielke (New Germany, Minn.) contributed to the offensive attack with 15 and 12 kills each. Sorensen led all Viking hitters with a .289 hitting percentage. Also, Rebekka Olsen (North Mankato, Minn.) added 10 kills in the efforts against MLC.
 
Defensively, Anna Nelson (Cannon Falls, Minn.) finished the match with 26 digs for Bethany while teammates Jasmine Carlson (Windom, Minn.) and Mackenna Hinz (Burnsville, Minn.) recorded 13 digs apiece.  Carlson also added 54 set assists to lead all players in the rivalry contest.
 
The Bethany volleyball team concluded the 2016 season with an overall record of 9-17 and 4-4 conference record. MEDIA: If you need further information, please feel free to contact Lucas Herd at 507-344-7856 or email lucas.herd@blc.edu.