DECORAH, Iowa (Oct. 11, 2024) - Senior
Rachel Brockney turned in 11 kills, eight digs and three assists while
Jadyn Rausch added nine kills and 26 assists, but the Buena Vista University volleyball team came up short in a four-set road loss at Luther College on Friday night by scores of 24-26, 25-17, 25-23, 25-22.
Brockney finished with a team-high 43 total attack attempts and had only five errors while posting a .140 percentage. Rausch had her nine kills on only 13 swings for a .540 percentage.
Sydney Meints chipped in with seven kills on 16 attempts. As a team, the Beavers had 44 kills and finished with a .168 percentage.
The opening set was back-and-forth from the start with neither team building more than a three-point cushion throughout. The Norse reached that margin late at 24-21 before BVU was able to run off five straight points which included a pair of service aces from Rausch and capped off by a kill from Meints.
Luther responded to start the second set by jumping out to a quick 5-1 advantage until a kill from Meints brought BVU back within 8-7. The Beavers eventually pulled even at 10-10, and that was the first of six ties. BVU eventually pulled in front at 16-15 before the Norse went on an 8-0 run to pull away.
The final two sets each came down to the wire. Luther led throughout all of set two, including a 23-20 lead late, until a kill from Brockney and two straight from Rausch made it 23-23. The rally came up just short as the Norse ended the set with consecutive kills to win by two. In the fourth, it was back-and-forth at the start until Luther scored three of the next four points to go up 8-4. BVU was able to claw its way back to 11-10 and eventually pulled even at 14-14. It remained tied at 17-17 but the Norse again pulled away late with four straight points to build a 21-17 cushion, but despite BVU scoring three straight to make it 24-22, the Norse (5-15, 1-2 A-R-C) ended the match with its 58th kill.
Merced Ramirez tallied a team-leading 14 digs for the Beavers to go along with five kills and five assists.
Mallory Ignaszewski added 11 digs while Meints added four total blocks.
Buena Vista dips to 5-14 overall (0-2 A-R-C) and is right back on the court at preseason favorite Coe College on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 11 a.m.
