STORM LAKE, Iowa (Nov. 1, 2024) - The Buena Vista University volleyball team returned home on Friday night to host Loras College and rallied to force a decisive fifth set, but the Beavers came up short in that set and dropped the match, 3-2 (25-14, 23-25, 25-16, 22-25, 15-10).

Fifth-year senior Rachel Brockney led the charge for the Beavers with 16 kills on a match-high 68 swings and added 21 digs. Reese Nieuwenhuis followed with 11 kills but had 12 attack errors. The Beavers chalked up 45 total kills and finished with a .038 attack percentage. Jadyn Rausch dished out 35 assists and posted 20 digs, Mallory Ignaszewski dug up a team-high 24 balls while Madison Thomas chipped in with 16 digs and a team-leading three ace serves.

Loras jumped out to an early 8-3 led in the opening set before the Beavers rallied back within 9-8. From there, it was the Duhawks going on a 9-2 run, including seven straight, as the opened up a 19-10 advantage. They later rolled off the final five points to take the opening set 25-12.

BVU led 6-2 to begin the second set, but that would mark the largest lead by either side. Loras led 19-17 late in the frame before the Beavers got kills from four different players, along with an ace serve from Madison Thomas, to roll off five straight points and grab a 22-19 lead. The teams then traded points before the Duhawks rallied with three straight even things at 23-23 but a kill from Brockney followed by an ace serve from Rausch capped off the 25-23 victory.

The Duhawks took control of the third set with an 8-2 lead that broke open a 10-10 tie and eventually led to the 25-16 triumph.

The Beavers weren't about to go away in the fourth set which ended up being back-and-forth from start to finish. Loras held an 18-15 margin before BVU was aided by a quick 5-1 spurt, which included three straight attack errors by the Duhawks, as BVU regained a 20-19 advantage. Despite having Loras scoring consecutive points to take a 21-20 lead, the Beavers took advantage of consecutive attack errors to spark a pivotal 5-1 run to close out the match. Loras finished that set with a match-high 11 attack errors.

Both teams traded points to begin the winner-take-all fifth set before Loras went on a 5-1 run and extend its cushion to 6-3. A kill from Rausch initially stopped the run, but the Duhakws pulled away by scoring five of the next six points, and never looked back from there.

Four players registered double-digit kills to lead the Duhawks (15-11, 4-2 A-R-C).

Buena Vista drops to 5-18 overall (0-6 A-R-C) and will turn right around to host the University of Dubuque on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m.