DUBUQUE, Iowa (Oct. 17, 2025) - The Buena Vista volleyball team went on the road Friday night to play at No. 24 Dubuque, but the Spartans (19-3, 4-0 A-R-C) held off the Beavers in three sets by scores of 25-19, 25-17 and 25-22.

BVU's balanced offensive attack was led by freshman Charley Hernandez's 10 kills, sophomore Ashlyne Havermann and junior Hope Vanderlinden were each close behind with seven and freshman Keylee Gregg chipped in with six kills. The Spartans were led with 11 kills from Delaney Winkel as two others added seven.

Dubuque held a 40-36 edge in total kills in the match but forced the Beavers into 23 errors compared to only 11 by the Spartans.

Hernandez turned in her seventh double-double of the year by also posting 10 digs to match Havermann for the team lead. Freshman Faith Fitzgerald dished out a career-high 17 assists while senior Olivia Gordon added 12.

Dubuque scored five of the first six points in the opening set but the Beavers kept within striking distance throughout. It was 22-19 late in the set but Dubuque rolled off the final three points to take the 1-0 lead. The second set was all tied up at 9-9 and was 13-12 before Dubuque opened it up with a 7-1 surge that extended the margin to 20-13 en route to the 25-17 win.

The Beavers tried to keep the match alive and force at least a fourth set. The third set saw eight ties, including at 14-14 midway through, before the Spartans rolled off six straight points to take a 20-14 lead. BVU got back-to-back kills from Hernandez and Sydney Meints to spark a quick 4-0 surge and later got within a point at 22-21. The two teams traded points before the Spartans got a kill followed by a BVU attack error to close out the match with a 25-22 victory.

Buena Vista is now 6-12 overall (0-4 A-R-C) and is right back on the court on Saturday at Noon to play at Loras College (5-15, 1-3 A-R-C).