PELLA, Iowa (Sept. 2, 2023) - The Buena Vista volleyball split a pair of matches for the second straight to wrap up the Central College/Grinnell College Invitational on Saturday afternoon.

Buena Vista began the day on a strong note by rolling past Knox College in three sets by scores of 25-9, 25-16, 25-8. The Beavers overmatched the Prairie Fire with 39 kills and a .325 attack percentage. Knox was held to only three kills in the first and third sets and finished with more errors (17) than kills (16).

Senior Skylar Cole had a big match with 12 kills and a .588 attack percentage. Rachel Brockney finished just shy of a double-double with nine kills and 15 digs to go along with four ace serves. Molly McCauley turned in six kills, eight digs and four ace serves. Jilly Janssen dished out a career-best 35 assists to go along with two ace serves. As a team, BVU registered 14 ace serves. Molly Bense was just behind Brockney with 13 digs and chipped in with two ace serves.

BVU and Dominican battled neck-and-neck to wrap up the day but the Stars would score the final four points in the fourth set of a 3-1 match. The Stars came through with an opening set victory, 25-21, before the Beavers bounced back to win a thrilling 27-25 second set. It was all Dominican in the third as the Stars jumped out to an 8-1 lead en route to a 25-11 victory. The Beavers rallied back in the fourth to tie things up at 21-21 but Dominican scored the final four points to win the match.

Cole again came up big for BVU, finishing with 12 kills and a pair of blocks. Courtney Johnson matched Cole with 12 kills and led the way with four blocks. Hope Vanderlinden registered a career-best 11 kills as the Beavers tallied 44 overall.

Janssen continued her career-day by dishing out 36 assists to go along with a team-leading 14 digs. Brockney and Bense followed with 13 digs apiece.

Buena Vista (2-2) travels to Grinnell College on Tuesday, Sept. 5, for a 7 p.m. non-conference tilt against the Pioneers.