PELLA, Iowa – The Bethany Lutheran volleyball team concluded their weekend of play at the Grinnell/Central Invite with contests against Central College and Knox College.  The Vikings fell to Central 3-0, before defeating Knox 3-1. With the results Bethany moves to 2-2 on the season.

Central 3 – 0 Bethany

After last nights dramatic win, the Vikings began day two in strong fashion in the first set, jumping out to an early 8-3 lead after a kill from Kate Maag. The Vikings would slowly push their lead to 16-10, before Central would rebound and even things up at 20. Bethany would get the next point to go up one, before five straight points from the Dutch ended the set.

Central took the strong end to set one and carried it into the second, as they got out to a 10-3 lead in the early going. They would continue to extend their lead as they pushed it to 19-9, before the Vikings scored five of the next six points to cut the deficit to 20-14. Central however could close out the set strong as they took it decisively 25-16.

The third set played back and forth from the start, with the teams working to a 12-12 score midway through the set. After the Dutch scored five straight points, the Vikings would cut the lead back down to four at 19-15. Bethany would continue to rally late but couldn't muster the comeback as Central sealed the match with a 25-20 set three win.

Lexiss Trygg had a strong match both offensively and defensively, as she tied a team-high with seven kills while also adding a team-best 15 digs. Maddie Meyer also added seven kills for the Vikings, while Paloma Garcia De Fuentes dished out 22 set assists.

Bethany 3 – 1 Knox

The Prairie Fire got out to a quick start in the second match, gaining a 9-5 lead early. Bethany would eventually close the gap and take the lead at 14-13 after a kill by Esther Peeters, but Knox would respond with five straight points to go up 18-14. They would keep that lead and get to set point at 24-22, before three straight points from the Vikings would give them set point at 25-24. The teams then traded points before Knox would rally off three straight to take the first set 28-26.

After a tough loss in the first, Bethany showed up to play in set two getting out to a 10-3 lead early. Knox would rattle off seven straight points to even the score before a kill and pair of service aces from Peeters put Bethany back in front. The Prairie Fire would then go on a run of their own, scoring 10 of the next 13 points to get out to a 20-16 lead and were just five points from taking a two set lead. The Vikings hit their stride late though, rallying from behind to score nine of the last 11 points to take set two 25-22.

After the come from behind win in set two, set three was dominated by the service of Peeters. The Vikings would get out to a 10-3 lead when Peeters stepped to the service line where Bethany scored eight straight points including three kills from Meyer to end the run and put the Vikings up 18-3.  BLC would go on to close out set two 25-5 and take a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth and what would prove to be final set, Knox would get out to an early 9-8 lead before Bethany responded in a big way to go up 18-12. The Prairie Fire would cut the deficit to three, but that was all the closer they would get as the Vikings ran away with it late and took it 25-17 to win the match.  

Meyer led the offensive attack in the second contest with an efficient 15 kills with a .324 attack percentage. Trygg had another big performance, this one a double-double as she posted 13 kills to go along with 13 digs. Maddi Wendland had a big match in the back row with a team-leading 28 digs, while Garcia de Fuentes had another double-double with 45 set assists and 11 digs.

In the match, the Vikings also had a big day on the service, with 18 aces as a team. Peeters led the group with five, while Maag and Trygg had four apiece.

Bethany will be back in action next Friday when they travel to UW-Superior for the Stinger Classic, where they will match up against Concordia (Minn.) for a 5 p.m. contest.