WAVERLY, Iowa (Nov. 3, 2022) - The Buena Vista volleyball team is one win away from winning its first-ever American Rivers Conference Tournament title after going on the road Thursday night and knocking off No. 2 Wartburg in four sets.

BVU came out and set the temp right out of the gate, building a 9-2 lead in the opening set. Wartburg rallied late in the set to pull within 20-18 but the Beavers finished strong and picked up the 25-21 victory. After Buena Vista started the second set on a 7-3 run, the Knights responded by using a tough defense at the net that held Buena Vista to just nine kills and forcing seven attack errors. BVU continued to maintain a 16-13 advantage before the Knights picked up the defensive pressure down the stretch to run off seven consecutive points to aid in a 25-19 victory.

The Beavers, despite going down 12-4 early in the third set, did not get rattled and used an 8-2 run to get back within 14-12. Wartburg continued to stay in front until BVU got a kill from Rachel Brockney that sparked a key 6-0 run to give the team a 21-20 advantage. The Beavers faced set point at 24-22 only to see Wartburg fight back to tie it at 24-24, but back-to-back kills from Molly McCauley and Taylor Wedemeyer gave BVU the 2-1 lead in the match.

Wartburg built a 10-5 lead in the fourth as the Knights fought to keep the match alive. The margin grew to 16-10 before the Beavers closed with a 13-1 run that was capped by two straight kills from Brockney to send BVU into its first conference tournament match since 2017.

McCauley turned in a career-high 15 kills to lead a balanced offensive attack while Brockney added 13 and Hannah Smith adding eight. Brockeny picked up another double-double by also adding 11 digs while Smith added 13. Molly Bense led BVU with 15 digs. Wedemeyer pulled into a tie for second-place all-time in program history in career assists by dishing out 37. She capped another double-double with 10 digs.

"Our ladies were able to win the mindset battle and outfight our opponent tonight," said BVU head coach Will Baumann. "It was an incredible step for the empowerment of our team; mindset meeting skill."

Allison Feigenbaum led Wartburg with 14 kills as the Knights wrap up the season at 15-11 overall.

Buena Vista is 7-1 in its last eight matches overall to improve its season record to 13-11. The Beavers will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday, Nov. 5, to play at No. 1 seed Coe College (26-5) after the Kohawks held off No. 4 seed Dubuque in a five-set thriller in the other semifinal match-up.