The Buena Vista volleyball team handed Luther College its first Iowa Conference loss of the year on Friday night after topping the Norse in four sets by scores of 25-19, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21.  The win also moved the Beavers into a tie for first in the league standings.

Junior Maddie Bardole finished with a team-high 15 kills and a .343 attack percentage to lead three Beavers in double figures.  In the process, she moves past Katie Vondrak for second-place on the program's all-time kills list with 1,278.  Ashley Wilde is the all-time leader with 1,312.

Sophomore Jade Schaap followed with 14 kills and only five errors while sophomore Emily Mathews tallied 10 kills.  Schaap capped off her fourth straight double-double with 12 digs.  She now sits five kills away from fifth on the program's all-time list and is 10 shy of fourth.

Kylie Roe chipped in with nine digs as well as a match-high four ace serves.  Sydnee Donnelli matched Schaap with 12 digs, while sophomore Laura Barry dished out a match-high 43 assists.  Barry now sits nine assists shy of becoming just the third player in school history to reach 2,000 career assists.

The Beavers were hot on the offensive end in the opening set, registering 14 kills while holding the Norse to only five.  Each team posted 12 in the second set before Luther held a 15-11 edge in the third.  BVU was then able to put together a big string of points late in the match to finish with a match-high 17 kills in the fourth.  The two teams are the top-two offenses currently in the IIAC.

The Beaver win snapped Luther's six-match overall win streak and gave the Norse (12-7, 3-1 IIAC) their first loss in conference play.  It also moved them into a first-place tie with the Norse - a half-game lead over both Wartburg and Loras.  The Beavers and Duhakws square-off in a key showdown inside of Siebens Fieldhouse on Tuesday night, October 6, at 7:30pm.

Before taking on Loras, BVU (13-7, 3-1 IIAC) will step out of IIAC play on Saturday for a non-conference road match at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (13-7) starting at 11:00am.  The Eagles will take the court having won seven straight matches while dropping only two sets during that stretch.