Box Score MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran volleyball team is headed back to the UMAC Tournament after missing out on the postseason last year after a 3-0 win over North Central on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Vikings finish the regular season at 8-17 overall and 6-8 in the UMAC while the Rams finish at 15-12 overall and 4-10 in the conference. 

Bethany came out strong in the first set, jumping out to a 16-8 lead midway through the set. The Rams would slowly close the gap, cutting the Viking lead to 22-20 but a NCU service error followed by kills from Rilee Hohbein and Alexis Morsching would give Bethany a 25-20 set win. 

In the second set, the Vikings started strong again getting out to an 8-3 lead. The Rams would respond, taking a 16-15 lead but Bethany would eventually be able to regain a 21-17 lead. NCU would score three straight to cut the deficit to one but the Vikings would get to set point at 24-23 and a Maddie Meyer kill would end the set. 

The teams would play the final set very even, tying things up midway through at 12 apiece. Bethany would start to pull away though, as they scored 13 of the next 18 points en rout to a 25-17 set win. 

The victory for the Viking would put them in the UMAC Tournament as Northwestern had already defeated MLC to give Bethany a route in. 

Morsching had a strong match for the Vikings, as she posted 12 kills to just one error to hit .344 on the day while also notching a team-high 17 digs. Sarah Strom also supplemented the attack with seven kills, while Meyer added six with zero attack errors. Esther Peeters, Callista Weber, and Maddi Wendland all posted 10 digs in the match, while Peeters also led the Viking distribution efforts with 17 set assists.

Bethany will be back in action next Wednesday for the first round of the UMAC Tournament where they will face off with Northwestern.