LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Bethany Lutheran volleyball team Saturday played in a pair of contests at UW-La Crosse, dropping the first to the host school 3-1 before falling to Luther 3-0. With the results the Vikings fall to 3-7 on the season.

UW-La Crosse 3 – 1 Bethany Lutheran
The host of the tournament came out of the gates strong, pushing to an 11-4 and eventually an 18-8 lead in the first set. Bethany would rattle off four straight points and 10 of the next 13 to cut the deficit to 21-18 before the Eagles pushed back and finished the set off 25-20.

After UWL gained a 14-9 edge early in the second set, the service of Maddie Diveley and three straight blocks by the trio of Femke Peters, Riley Sammon, and Lexiss Trygg led Bethany to on a 6-0 run and a 15-14 set lead. The Eagles answered with four straight points and used that momentum to continue to hold their lead, eventually taking the set 25-21.  

Down to their last breath, the Vikings came out rolling in the third set gaining a 7-2 edge early thanks largely in part to the service of Maddi Wendland. Like UWL in the prior set, Bethany rode the momentum from the early going and continued to extend their lead taking their first set of the match at 25-20.

In the fourth and final set, Bethany just didn't have it offensively, hitting -.194 in the set as UWL cruised to a 25-13 set win to take the match.

Kate Maag, Trygg, and Sammon led the Viking attack with nine kills each with Maag hitting .333 in the process. Wendland led the back row with 19 digs, while Paloma Garcia De Fuentes led the team with 16 assists.

Luther 3 – 0 Bethany Lutheran
In the second match of the day, the Vikings and Norse played every set down to the wire with Bethany falling just shy in each as the Norse escaped with the win.

In the first set, the Norse jumped out to an early lead before the Vikings eventually clawed their way back in and led 21-20 down the stretch. Luther however, closed the set out with five of the last six points to take a 1-0 lead.

Set two started similarly to set one with the Norse going up 7-1 early before Bethany would climb back to cut the deficit to 20-19 late. Luther would once again score five of the last six points thanks to a barrage of kills to go up 2-0 in the match.

A slow start once again doomed the Vikings in the final set, as Luther got out to a five-point lead early before Bethany cut it to 17-16 just over midway through the set. Luther would slowly pull away late though as they took the set 25-20 and the match 3-0.

Maag led the attacking effort in the nightcap, totaling eight kills, while Trygg added six for the Vikings. Garcia de Fuentes paced the Vikings with 18 assists, while Wendland added a team-leading 18 digs.

For her performance in the tournament, Maddi Wendland was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Bethany is next in action on Tuesday when they open up UMAC play at Martin Luther College at 7 p.m.