The Buena Vista volleyball team is one win closer to its first-ever Iowa Conference Tournament championship title after the Beavers overcame an early deficit to defeat second-seed Wartburg College on Thursday night on the road, 3-1.

The two teams met just last Tuesday in Storm Lake for the IIAC regular season finale with the second-seed going to the winner.  In that match, the Knights overcame a loss in set one to pull out a 3-2 thriller, ending BVU's 11-match win streak.

This time around, it was the Beavers dropping a tough 25-20 opening set, only to bounce back with a strong 25-16 win to even the match.  From there, BVU finished the next two sets with a late surge, taking the third set, 25-21 and the fourth, 25-22.

"For once in my life I think I'm speechless," said BVU head coach Lori Slight afterwards.  "This is the moment the program has been waiting for.  The credit goes to each and every one of these young women who are on the team for working hard, having a vision and staying dedicated to what we do."

BVU had a trio of players with at least 10 kills on the night, led by sophomore Maddie Bardole's match-high 17.  She finished with only three errors in 53 total attempts, to go along with her 26 digs, defensively.

Freshman Jade Schaap was close behind with 16 kills, despite finishing with 12 errors.  Just like Bardole, she also added a double-double with 20 digs.  Fellow freshman Emily Mathews had a stellar night, posting 14 kills and a hitting percentage of .480.  She also chipped in defensively with a pair of block assists.

Laura Barry, who set the program's single-season assist record during Tuesday night's win over Dubuque, added to that total with 45 more against the Knights (24-11), while also chiming in with 10 digs and two block assists.

Senior libero Jordan Henningsen broke the single-season digs record in the second set and finished the night with 31.  It marks her fifth 30-dig performance of the year.  She now has 673 digs on the year, surpassing the previous mark of 659 set by Betsy Behrens in 2007.

"This moment is something special that these women will always remember," added Slight.

Baily Wilson was the only Warburg player in double-digit kills, as she tallied 14.

The win puts BVU into the tournament championship match for the first time since 2003 and pushes its season record to 25-10.

The Beavers will now look to match the school record for wins in a season and also earn a spot into the NCAA Tournament with a win on Saturday at top-seed Coe College (27-8). The Kohawks earned their spot in the title match after a 3-0 win over Central in Thursday's other semifinal contest.

Saturday's match in Cedar Rapids is tentatively scheduled for 7:00pm.