Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 GRINNELL, Iowa – The Bethany Lutheran volleyball team traveled to Grinnell on Friday night, where they played in a pair of matches, falling to a tough Grinnell team 3-2 to begin the night before taking down Monmouth 3-2 in the nightcap.

"We are finding our rhythm and competed hard in both matches tonight," said Head Coach Laura Evans. "I'm proud of our fight and the passion we played with."

Grinnell 3 – 2 Bethany Lutheran

After the Vikings jumped out to a 7-6 lead to begin this one, the Pioneers fought there way back in and then some, taking an 18-10 advantage in the later part of the set. Bethany would come back to trim the deficit to five but Grinnell would walk away with the first 25-19.

Bethany came to play in the second set, dominating from the jump and never trailing as they evened the match with a 25-16 result.

The third set was the most enjoyable for the fans, but it was chaotic for the players on the court. The teams would trade leads for the duration of the set until the Pioneers finally started to see daylight after taking a 22-18 lead. They would push that to 24-21 before the service of Maddi Wendland would help the Vikings score four straight points and take a 25-24 lead. The teams would push to a tie at 27 before an attack error from Grinnell would give the Vikings set point before Paloma Garcia De Fuentes sealed the win with a setter dump.

The Vikings rode the momentum of the third set into the fourth, jumping out to a 10-8 lead thanks to a big kill from Kate Maag. The Pioneers would respond in a big way though and turn the entire tide of the match, as they rattled off 17 of the next 20 points to take the set 25-14 and push things to a fifth and final set.

Grinnell would get out to a quick start in the fifth, taking a 6-1 lead early before Bethany would answer and cut the deficit to 9-8. The Pioneers would bounce back once more though as they would score six of the last eight to take the set 15-10 and win the match 3-2.

Lexiss Trygg had a big first match with 17 kills for the Vikings, while Maag added eight. Garcia de Fuentes also had a huge first match for the Vikings, dishing out a team-high 27 assists while also tallying a team-best 27 digs in the back row.

Bethany Lutheran 3 – 2 Monmouth

In the nightcap the Vikings got things rolling early in the first set, climbing out to a 10-4 lead. It was the Bethany attack that propelled them to the early lead, and it was the Bethany attack that continued the charge as they worked their way to a 25-17 set win. The Vikings notched 16 kills in the first set and hit .275 as a team.

Efficiency reigned supreme in the first set and the Vikings continued playing strong in the second. They trailed 11-8 before going on a 10-1 run thanks largely in part to five consecutive service aces from Femke Peters. Leading 18-12, the Vikings would go on to close out the set 25-19.

The two teams played a back and forth third set that saw Monmouth come out on top 25-22, before the Scots would roll with the momentum and cruise to a 25-15 win in set four to send the Vikings to their second straight five-set match.

Monmouth would get out to an early lead in the fifth before a Maag kill followed by a trio of Scot errors put the Vikings up 8-5. The teams would begin trading points late with Maag getting a kill and Peters getting two as BLC held an 11-8 lead. Monmouth wouldn't go away easily though as they would take four of the next five points to even things at 12 apiece. Bethany would rattle off three straight points though with Trygg and Maag putting the nail in the coffin with kills to secure the win.

Maag led the Viking attack in the second match with 16 kills, while Trygg added 12 and Maddie Meyer had 10. Wendland tallied 18 digs to lead the Viking back row, while Maddy Huschka added 17. Garcia de Fuentes had another strong showing, with 33 set assists and 13 digs.

Bethany is back in action tomorrow at 11 a.m. as they travel to Pella, Iowa to take on Central College and Knox College.