MANKATO, Minn. (September 17, 2021) - The Buena Vista University volleyball team picked up a strong 3-1 road win on Friday night at Bethany Lutheran to improve its overall record to 6-3 on the year.

Senior Sydney McLaren recorded her fifth double-double of the year with a match-high 13 kills to go along with 17 digs.  She had just one attack error on the night, giving her a solid .255 attack percentage.  Sophomore Rachel Brockney followed with eight kills and two total blocks, while juniors Kaitie Serkiz (7 kills) and Hannah Smith (6 kills) followed.  Fellow junior Taylor Wedemeyer dished out 35 assists and capped her double-double with 11 digs.

Senior Jade Hays came up big on the defensive end with a team-leading 20 digs while sophomore Kaylee Nosbisch also chipped in with 17.

Both teams went back-and-forth throughout most of the opening set with neither team able to go on much of a run.  BVU held the largest cushion by either team at 17-11 following a kill by McLaren.  The Vikings eventually pulled back even at 22-22, but the Beavers held off the late rally by scoring the final three points, including kills from Brockney and Serkiz.

BVU took control from the opening serve in the second set by jumping out to a 10-3 lead.  After Bethany Lutheran scored three straight points late to make it 17-11, the Beavers scored eight of the final nine points.

The Vikings avoided the sweep by taking control early in the third set, jumping out to a quick 7-1 lead.  BVU didn't go down without a fight as the team managed to claw back late to tie things up at 22-22 and again at 23-23, but Bethany Lutheran got a kill and a service ace to win 25-23.

The fourth set was close early on until BVU rolled off four straight points to extend its cushion to 18-12 midway through.  The Vikings tried to hang around by scoring three straight before six straight by BVU gave the Beavers a big cushion and they hung on to take the set 25-20 and the match.

"Credit Bethany Lutheran for playing hard the whole match," said BVU head coach Rosie Aumann.  "They kept us on our toes.  Our back court defense showed up tonight with four players with double digit digs.  Our blockers did a great job crediting touches for our defense to play around.  We're looking forward to two more matches tomorrow."

Buena Vista will look to add to its win total on Saturday during the Minnesota-Morris Triangular.  The team begins the day at 11:00 a.m. against the host Cougars before taking on Concordia-Moorhead at 2:00 p.m.