STORM LAKE - The Buena Vista volleyball team split a pair of matches inside of Siebens Fieldhouse on Saturday as it hosted a triangular with Maranatha Baptist and St. Catherine's. BVU won the opening match of the day, 3-1, over MBU before falling in three sets to St. Kate's.
Against the Sabercats (1-1) in the opener, the Beavers tallied 15 kills in the opening set to help set the tone for the rest of the match. They took that first set, 25-23, before winning the second 25-21. MBU kept things alive with a 25-20 triumph in the third before BVU finished things off with 13 kills in the fourth en route to a 25-16 win.
Sophomore
Sydney McLaren helped lead the charge with 19 kills while
Kaitie Serkiz followed with 12 and
Hannah Smith added 10.
Taylor Wedemeyer turned in another double-double, dishing out 31 assists and posting 20 digs.
Summer Goss registered a team-leading 29 digs to go along with five assists.
"It felt good to get a 'W' under our belt in that match with Maranatha Baptist," said head coach
Aubrey Havlichek. "We learned what it means to really dictate our temp and play our game, and elt what happens when we don't. Maranatha was extremely scrappy and it was fun to compete with their defense. Huge props to Madison (Williams) for being thrown in after a warm-up injury. We rallied to make that happen.
The Beavers came back later in the day to face St. Catherine (5-1) in the final match of the day but came up a bit short after dropping a thrilling opening set, 26-24. From there, the team struggled to find its groove and would drop the final two sets by identical scores of 25-19.
McLaren again paved the way with 16 kills and was the only Beaver in double figures. She also added a pair of ace serves and 17 digs. Smith chipped in with seven kills and a team-leading 18 digs. Wedemeyer added to her assist total with 27 and kept her string of double-doubles going to start her career by also recording 14 digs.
"We went from dictating the game to letting the other team dictate us against St. Kate's," said Havlichek. "We made adjustments and got the touches we needed on blocks but couldn't convert to earn points. Syd was dominant for us offensively but we wont have success if we stay one dimensional.
Buena Vista (1-5) will look to bounce back when it continues its home schedule on Tuesday, September, by hosting Martin Luther College in a varsity-only match starting at 7:00 p.m.
