MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran volleyball team Friday night used an all-around performance to take a 3-1 win over Northland. With the win the vikings move to 6-14 overall and 4-5 in the UMAC while the LumberJills fall to 8-10 overall and 3-6 in the conference. 



Bethany came out of the gates strong and seemed to be in control in the early going, jumping out to a 16-11 lead. A fleury of kills by the Jills however along with a few Viking attack errors, opened the door for Northland as they climbed back into it and were able to take the first 25-21.

The big run at the end of set one was answered early in set two, as the Vikings jumped out to a 11-3 lead. They would extend that lead to 16-6 before Northland would respond with three straight points to cut the deficit to seven. Bethany went on a 5-0 run though and would eventually close out the set 25-15. 

The final two sets that resulted in Viking victories were two of the strongest the team had played all year. The Vikings put up 15 kills to just two errors in the third set en rout to a 25-22 win, before posting 16 kills and just one error in the 25-20 set four win. Bethany trailed late in the fourth set 20-18, but they would score seven straight including three kills from Alexis Morsching to take the set 25-20. 

The Vikings played a complete match in this one, notching 51 kills to just 12 errors on 119 attacks for a hitting percentage of .328. That percentage was the highest for the Vikings since Oct. 30, 2019, when they hit .342 in a 3-0 win over North Central. That wasn't the only big stat of the day as the Vikings also posted 15 total blocks, which are the most for Bethany in a game since Aug. 31, 2019. 

Morsching stuffed the stat sheet in this one, notching 19 kills and just three errors for a .444 percentage, while also adding a team-high 15 digs in the match. Rilee Hohbein had a strong match as well, tallying nine kills to just three errors to go along with three solo blocks in the front row. Maddie Meyer was just two block assists off the school record in the match as she posted nine to add onto seven kills. Esther Peeters was the main beneficiary of the 51 kills, as she posted 32 set assists, while Paloma Garcia de Fuentes added 14. 

Bethany is back at it tomorrow when they host UW-Superior for a 1 p.m. matchup.