The Buena Vista volleyball team was in action for the third straight day to begin the year, and the Beavers earned a two-match split to wrap up their play during the Wash U Labor Day Classic.  BVU convincingly swept by Fontbonne before falling in four sets to unbeaten Nebraska Wesleyan.

BVU wasted little time taking care of business in its opener against Fontbonne after winning the first set, 25-20.  It was all  Beavers in the next two as they rolled to 25-19 and 25-11 wins, respectively.

The agressive attack by sophomore Maddie Bardole and freshman Jade Schaap continued in this one as well with Bardole tallying 14 kills to Schaap's 10.  Schapp did not commit a single hitting error in her 23 attempts to finish with a stellar hitting percentage of .435.  Bardole was equally as strong, committing just two errors in 33 attempts to post a hitting percentage of .364.

Emily Mathews was next with six kills to go along with her four total blocks.  Fellow freshman Laura Barry dished out 27 more assists while Joran Henningsen and Sydnee Donnelli led the way with 20 and 12 digs, respectively.

BVU looked to close the two-day Classic with three straight wins, but came up a little on the short-end against a Prairie Wolves team that was unbeaten coming into the match (3-0), including a sweep of #11 Washington University on Saturday night.

NWU took the early lead with a thrilling 25-23 victory in the opening set before BVU came back to even things up with a 25-22 win in set two.  The Prairie Wolves pulled away late in the third set, using four straight points to break a 10-10 tie and went on to win, 25-19.  It was then all NWU in the final set with the Prairie Wolves posting a 25-13 win.

Bardole, who was named to the All-Tournament Team following the day, was solid yet again, turning in a team-leading 19 kills and a percentage of .259 to go along with 11 digs.  Schaap was right behind with 18 kills and three total blocks with no other player posting more than three kills.

Barry chimed in with 38 assists and 10 digs.  Henningsen helped lead the way defensively with 30 digs, while Donnelli added 19.  Mathews was solid again at the net, chalking up four total blocks.

"Today was another good day of progression forward in where we want to take the program," says BVU head coach Lori Slight. We had a nice win in the morning and then played a great Nebraska Wesleyan team with alot of seniors - a team that had just knocked Wash U off the night before.  We will continue to improve, and everything ee did this weekend is only going to prepare us for conference matches."

Buena Vista sits at 2-3 overall and will now look to start its home schedule off on a high note when the team hosts Northwestern College (IA) on Wednesday night, September 3, at 7:30pm.