ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (Sept. 13, 2024) - The Buena Vista University volleyball team was back on the road Friday night for a pair of matches on the first day of the Viking Classic, hosted by Augustana College. The Beavers dropped its opener, 3-0, to DePauw before bouncing back for a strong 3-1 triumph over the host Vikings.
Fifth-year
Rachel Brockney led BVU with 13 kills against DePauw and narrowly missed out on a fourth straight double-double by finishing with eight digs. BVU finished the match with only 25 kills while making 29 errors.
Madison Thomas,
Jadyn Rausch and
Merced Ramirez all totaled 10 digs, defensively, as Rausch also dished out 20 assists.
DePauw had 13 kills and only one attack error in the opening set to set the tone early en route to a 25-12 victory. That continued over the next two sets as well as the team committed only eight kills in the match.
Junior
Kyla Vaughn turned in 17 kills with Brockney right behind with 13 more. The duo helped lead the Beavers in what was a thrilling four-set match with the first three sets all decided by two points.
BVU led 23-18 late in the opening set before the Vikings rallied to keep it alive by scoring six straight points and faced set-point before the Beavers scored four of the next five points to win 27-25. Set two was equally as tight down the stretch with it being tied at 23 and again at 24 and 25 before the Vikings got a kill followed by an attack error by the Beavers to win 27-25. The third set was even more of a nail-biter as neither team could pull away from the other. Augustana tied it at 21 and then the two teams traded points from there until BVU got back-to-back kills from Ramirez and
Sydney Meints to escape with a 29-27 victory. BVU needed only nine kills in the final frame as it was aided by 10 attack errors by the Vikings (3-4) and won 25-19.
Brockney added 21 digs in the match to post her fourth double-double in the last five matches while Ramirez talled five kills and a team-leading 26 kills. Rausch turned in six kills, 36 assists, 15 digs and also led the way with three ace serves. Vaughn was also a force on the defensive side with four assisted blocks as BVU tallied 14 total blocks.
Buena Vista is now 4-8 on the year and will play Greenville University at 11 a.m. on Saturday in its final match of the Classic.
