The Buena Vista volleyball team got off to a fast start at the annual IIAC/NACC Challenge which got underway on Friday by picking up a pair of wins to secure the program's first back-to-back 10-win seasons since doing so in five straight years (2002-06). The team topped Concordia-Wisconsin, 3-1, before sweeping past Aurora.

In the opener, the Beavers jumped out with a match-high .344 hitting percentage in the first set en route to a thrilling 25-22 victory.  CUW evened things up with a 25-19 triumph in set two before BVU took over from there to win consecutive sets (25-22 and 25-23) to reach the double-digit win plateau.

Sophomore Maddie Bardole led the offensive attack with a match-high 21 kills, to go along with her 19 digs on the defensive side.  Freshman Jade Schaap added 17 kills and 13 digs, while also chipping in with three block assists.

Celie Kohls was also in double-figures for BVU, matching her career-high of 10 set last week in the win over Central.  She was also stellar on the defensive side, turning in a team-high four block assists and one block solo.

As a team, BVU registered 19 total blocks in the match and held Concordia-Wisconsin to only a .154 attack percentage.  The Falcons entered the match with a strong 10-3 overall record and had won four of their last five matches overall coming in.

Freshman Laura Barry dished out 43 assists to move her into 10th place on the program's single-season list with 744.

The Beavers closed the day in convincing fashion with a thrilling three-set sweep of Aurora, which sported a 14-5 record entering the match.

BVU took the first set 27-25 before hanging on for a narrow 26-24 win in the second.  The Beavers then took care of business in the third set to close out the match with a 25-21 triumph.

Bardole again led the way with 15 kills and a .256 percentage, to go along with 13 digs and three block assists.  She moved into fifth-place on the program's all-time kills list and now has 762.  Her 416 kills this season alone rank fourth all-time and are just nine away from third.  The all-time single-season record is 462 set in 2006 by Ashley Wilde.

Schaap, along with Emily Mathews, followed with 12 kills and also combined for four block assists.

As a team, BVU turned in a .289 attack percentage, including a .385 clip to win set three.

Barry dished out 40 more assists and added seven digs.  Henningsen, meanwhile, led all players with 18 digs.

Buena Vista is now 11-8 on the year and will look to add to its win total on Saturday when the team wraps up the Challenge with matches against Wisconsin Lutheran (0-10) at 10:00am and Marian (Wis.) (4-11) at 2:00pm.