ST. PAUL, Minn. (Sept. 11, 2021) - The Buena Vista volleyball team began the day on Saturday with a strong 3-1 victory over Martin Luther College before the team ended the two-day St. Paul Tournament with a 3-0 setback at the hands of Hamline.

In the opener against the Knights, BVU trailed 12-11 midway through before rolling off 10 straight points, including three kills from sophomore Skylar Cole.  Back-to-back attack errors by Martin Luther gave the Beavers a strong 25-14 triumph.  

BVU came out and scored the first three points of the second set and continued to maintain that lead until the Knights went in front for the first time at 14-13.  The Beavers later broke open an 18-14 lead and contiuned to stay in front at 23-21 but couldn't put the Knights away as they rallied with four straight points to win the set 25-23.  The Beavers finished the match strong with 31 kills and just five hitting errors over the final two sets en route to 25-19 and 25-14 triumphs, respectively.

Junior Sydney McLaren tallied a match-high 16 kills on just four errors while adding 21 digs and one block solo.  Sophomore Rachel Brockney followed with 12 kills while fellow sophomore Skylar Cole chipped in with a career-high eight kills.  Jade Hays chimed in defensively with 16 kills as Karlee Kamberling added 12.

BVU looked to extend its overall win streak to three straight but came up short against the Pipers.  McLaren led the way yet again with 10 kills with Hannah Smith following at seven.  The Pipers were more efficient at the net with a .320 attack percentage while the Beavers finished with a .120 clip.  Hays chimed in with 11 digs.

The Beavers (5-2) will now prepare to open both their home schedule along with the American Rivers Conference slate on Wednesday, September 15, when they host Wartburg College at 7:30 p.m.