MANKATO, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran volleyball team took on St. Olaf on Wednesday night in their home opener and fell to the Oles in three sets. With the result the Vikings fall to 3-10 overall, while the Oles move to 8-4.

St. Olaf came out strong on the attack in the first set and that would be a theme of the game throughout. A barrage of kills from the visitors in the early going pushed them out to a 14-6 lead in the first before the Vikings started to claw their way back in.  Bethany would go on a 5-1 run capped off by a pair of kills from Kate Maag to cut the deficit to 15-11 just over midway through the set. The Oles would respond and extend their lead back to 23-14 before a pair of kills from Lexiss Trygg ended the run. Bethany would continue to cut into the lead eventually bringing the deficit to 24-19 but the Oles would gain set point to take the win.

In the second set, the teams would play to an even 8-8 score before the Oles caught fire. They would score 17 of the last 18 points in the set thanks to 12 kills as they ran away with it at 25-9.

St. Olaf continued that momentum into the third as they jumped out to an 11-2 lead thanks to their strong all-around attack. The Vikings would start chopping away, trimming the deficit to 14-8 before the Oles would push back to re-extend their lead to 19-9. Bethany would fight until the last point, cutting the deficit to seven at 24-17 but a kill from the Oles would end the match.

Trygg had a solid match for the Vikings with eight kills and a .263 attack percentage, while Maag hit .188 with five kills. Paloma Garcia De Fuentes had a team-best 10 assists while Maddi Wendland led the back row with 12 digs.

The Vikings will be back in action on Friday when they host Minnesota Morris for a 7 p.m. matchup.