MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran volleyball team Friday night hosted Northland in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference action and defeated the LumberJills 3-0. With the win the Vikings improve to 14-14 overall and 6-7 in the UMAC while the Jills fall to 1-23 overall and 1-12 in the conference.

Bethany would get out to an early 6-2 lead in the first set thanks to a pair of Paloma Garcia De Fuentes service aces before Northland would climb back in to even things at 9-9. The Jills would overtake the Vikings for their first lead of the match at 14-13 a few points later, but the Vikings would answer and re-take the lead 17-15. Northland would get back in late and hold leads of 22-21 and 23-22 late in the frame, but a kill by Lilly Mehrkens and two straight Maddie Meyer service aces gave the Vikings the first. 

Northland would gain a 4-3 edge to open the second frame before the service of Avery Carlson would propel the Vikings on a 9-0 run. The Jills would score four of the next six to make the score 14-9 but the Vikings would cruise from there, as Mehrkens and Meyer would each tally four kills down the stretch and Bethany took the second 25-10. 

The LumberJills would once again gain the early advantage in the third, as they gained a 6-5 lead out of the gates. Bethany was quick to answer though, as they would score 10 of the next 13 points to take a 15-9 edge. They would extend that lead to 22-14 before eventually putting things away 25-15 to take the match.

The Vikings had a strong attack on the night, finishing with a team hitting percentage of .281 with 51 total kills. Mehrkens led the effort with 10 kills and a .556 attack percentage while Lexiss Trygg, Riley Sammon, and Meyer all had eight kills. Abby Distad led the assist effort with 32 on the night, while Maddi Wendland led the back row with 21 digs. 

Bethany will conclude their season tomorrow when they play host to UW-Superior in a 1 p.m. contest.