DUBUQUE, Iowa (Sept. 16, 2022) - The Buena Vista volleyball team was on the road Friday to play a pair of matches at the Loras College Tournament. The Beavers dropped the opener, 3-0, against St. Mary's (Minn.) before bouncing back to hang on for a thrilling 5-set victory over Webster.

Against SMU, junior Rachel Brockney helped lead the way with 11 kills and 12 digs. Molly McCauley was next with six kills and a pair of ace serves. Taylor Wedemeyer had 21 assiss.

BVU battled back from a 16-10 deficit and faced set point on two separate occasions in the first set, leading 24-23 and again at 25-24, before the Cardinals rolled off three straight points to pick up a 27-25 win.  The Beavers were in front 13-9 midway through the second set before SMU used a big 5-0 run to take a 19-16 lead and scored the final six points to take the second set 25-17. SMU led 14-7 in the third set before the Beavers slowly clawed their way back to a 21-18 deficit before eventually falling 25-18.

Against the Gorlocks, BVU notched wins in each of the first two sets before Webster rallied back to win the next two and force a decisive fifth set. The Beavers opened a 6-3 lead early in the fifth before extending that margin to 11-6.  After a kill from the Gorlocks made it 11-7, BVU would then roll off the final four points to secure the win which snapped a seven-match losing skid.

Brockney again had a big match, leading the way with 19 kills and matching a career-best 20 digs. Courtney Johnson added 10 kills.  Taylor Wedemeyer dished out 41 assists and added 17 digs while Mallory Ignazewski also chimed in with 17 digs.

Buena Vista is now 4-7 overall and gets set to return home Saturday afternoon for a 1:00 p.m. non-conference match-up against Martin Luther College inside of Siebens Fieldhouse.