ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran volleyball team had a tall task on Saturday facing off with No. 6 Northwestern, but they held tough with the Eagles in the 3-0 loss. With the result the Vikings fall to 3-9 overall and 0-2 in the UMAC, while UNW moves to 8-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

Bethany came out swinging in set number one, getting out to a 5-1 lead over the Eagles thanks to four straight Viking kills. The Eagles would storm back and even things at nine before continuing their run and taking an 18-14 lead late in the set. Bethany wouldn't give up easily though, as they would score seven of the next nine points to draw even at 21-21. UNW would then take the next three points, before a kill from Femke Peters and a service ace from Paloma Garcia De Fuentes brought the Vikings back within one. A service error by the Vikings though would give the Eagles the 25-23 set one win.

In the second set last year's NCAA Final Four participant showed their strength, dominating from start to finish. They had 17 kills and just three errors on 28 attacks to hit .500 and win the set 25-13, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead.

Set number three played back-and-forth from the start, with the teams trading leads through the early part of the set. With things tied at 10 UNW would score three straight points, before the Vikings answered with four in a row on the service of Peters including two aces to take a 14-13 lead. That was the last lead Bethany would see though as Northwestern would score seven of the next eight to lead 20-15 and eventually close out the set at 25-17.

Peters had the best match of her young Bethany career, tallying eight kills on just 16 attacks with one error to hit .438. Riley Sammon and Lexiss Trygg also had strong matches, each notching six kills in the loss. Garcia de Fuentes quarterbacked the offense with 21 set assists, while also leading the team with nine digs.

The Vikings will be back in action next week for their opening home matches, hosting matches Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.