PELLA, Iowa - (Sept. 1, 2023) - The Buena Vista University volleyball team opened its 2023 season on Friday night by splitting a pair of matches on day one of the Central College/Grinnell College Invitational. BVU picked up a 3-0 win over Crown in the opener before falling by the same score to UW-Stout in the nightcap.

Molly McCauley led the charge with 18 kills and 19 digs on the night with Rachel Brockney chalking up 15 kills and a team-leading 31 digs. Skylar Cole chipped in with 14 kills and eight total blocks.

Crown came out and built an early 8-3 advantage and continued to stay in front at 12-6 before the Beavers began to hit their stride. They rolled off 10 straight points, including three kills from Brockney and a pair of ace serves from Molly Bense, to go in front 16-12. BVU stayed in front at 18-14 and then finished strong to pull away for the 25-18 victory.

BVU jumped out to the big 8-2 lead in the second before Crown responded with an 8-2 run of its own. After trailing 13-10, the Beavers took control with six straight points and would roll to the 25-18 win. The third set was back-and-forth with BVU holding the largest lead at 18-13 before holding off a late surge to win 25-22.

McCauley led all players with 11 kills and 10 digs while Brockney and Cole each followed with nine kills. Cole also chipped in with six blocks as the Beavers tallied nine overall. Skyler Needham and Jilly Janssen were each making their Beaver debuts and dished out 18 and 17 assists, respectively. Janssen capped the debut with her first career double-double as she also added 10 digs. Bense chipped in with 16 digs, three assists and her two ace serves.

In the finale against UW-Stout, BVU finished with only 26 kills over the three sets and had an .049 attack percentage. The team trailed 9-1 out of the gate and rallied to get as close as 17-12 but would come up short at 25-16. BVU was never able to go on much of a run in the second in what was essentially a back-and-forth frame. Stout led 18-15 late in the frame and would hang on to win 25-18. Stout opened up a 13-6 lead in the third and extended it to 18-10 before the late Beaver surge came up on the short end of a 25-21 setback.

McCauley again led the way with seven kills and nine digs with Brockney chiming in with six kills and 12 digs. Janssen turned another double-double with 18 assists and 14 digs. 

Buena Vista is 1-1 on the year and will continue play on Saturday, Sept. 2 against both Knox College (11 a.m.) and Dominican University (Ill.) at 1 p.m.