Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 LA CROSSE, Wis. - The Bethany Lutheran volleyball team opened their day with a tough three set loss to UW-La Crosse Saturday before grinding out a five set win over Macalester. With the results the Vikings move to 7-6 on the year. 

UW-La Crosse 3 - 0 Bethany Lutheran
The Vikings and Eagles went back and forth in the early goings of the first before an Abby Distad ace gave Bethany their largest lead of the frame at 14-10. UWL would fight back in to even things at 15 apiece before the Vikings would push back ahead with three straight kills from Maddie Meyer to make it 19-17. La Crosse would answer with six straight though and combat another Meyer kill with two more to take the set 25-20.

Set number two would play much like the first, with both squads trading points in the early going. It was the Eagles in this one though who would break away for a three point cushion midway through the set but Bethany would match things just a few points later. Tied at 17, the Eagles would push ahead and claim a 23-20 before a pair of kills from Meyer along with a error from UWL would even the score. La Crosse would slam the door late though, sending a pair of kills to the floor to take it 25-23. 

The third set proved to be no different, as the two teams would once again play neck and neck for the duration with the teams finding themselves even at 20 late. Four straight from UWL would put them at match point before kills from Meyer and Lilly Mehrkens would start to close the gap. A service error from BLC though would give the Eagles the set and they would take the match 3-0.

Meyer continues her impressive run as she posted 13 kills in the match on just 21 attacks to hit .524 in the contest while Mehrkens had eight kills. Megan Wegner led the back row with 19 digs in the contest while Distad dished out a team-best 29 assists. 

Bethany 3 - 2 Macalester
Match number two proved to be much more of a game of runs than the first match of the day with a 6-2 run in the early stages of the first giving Macalester the early 10-5 advantage. Bethany would respond just over midway through the set as they would go on a 11-4 run to take a 23-21 lead late in the first, but the Scots would takeover from there by scoring the final four to take the first.

After holding just a slim lead at 13-11 midway through the second frame, the Vikings would cruise to the finish line by claiming the second 25-17 to even the match up at one apiece. 

The Vikings would score the first five points of the third before the Scots would climb back in and even things at eight. From that point forward neither team would gain more than a two point cushion until Bethany would use the service of Wegner with the score even at 20-20 to score five in a row and take the 2-1 match lead. 

With Macalester needing a win in set four to extend the match, they would fall behind 17-13 before a five point run put them up one at 18-17. The two teams would then trade points before both teams would go on mini runs that wound up in a 24-23 advantage for the Vikings. The two squads would once again trade points before three straight from the Scots would send things to a fifth set. 

In the deciding set, Bethany would leave nothing to chance as they would go up big early and push out all the way to a 14-7 lead. Macalester would score four straight late to cut the deficit to three but a Meyer kill would end the match and give the Vikings the win.

Mehrkens led the Vikings with 14 kills in the match while Meyer had 12 and Lexiss Trygg 11. Mehrkens also added 14 digs for a double double while Wegner tallied 27 to lead the team. Distad posted a new career high for set assists in the match as she had 40, while Esther Peeters added five service aces. 

Bethany will next be in action on Tuesday when they host Martin Luther at 7 p.m. for their UMAC opener.