PELLA, Iowa (Oct. 31, 2026) - For the second straight match, the Buena Vista volleyball team recovered after dropping the opening set at Central College on Saturday afternoon by rolling to three straight wins to knock off the Dutch for the first time ever on the road.
Central, after pulling out a five-set thriller over Nebraska Wesleyan on Friday night, came out strong in the first set with 14 kills and forcing BVU into eight attack errors en route to a 25-16 victory.
The Beavers bounced right back in the second and built an early 11-4 lead and never looked back. The Dutch made things interesting midway through after cutting the lead down to 12-10, but BVU responded by scoring four of the next five to regain control and pull a way later for a 25-19 victory. It was all Beavers in the third set, as they scored the first nine points and rolled to a 25-10 triumph.Â
BVU closed things out strong in the fourth set with 16 kills and only two errors. The team scored the first five points and led 9-1 before taking the set 25-20 and snapping a four-match losing skid to the Dutch.
Sophomore
Charley Hernandez turned in 15 kills and 10 digs for the 15th double-double of the year and added three block assists. Freshman
Nora Konz followed with 11 kills and 12 digs while turning in a career-high six ace serves. Senior
Hope Vanderlinden chipped in with seven kills and three block assists. As a team, the Beavers totaled 50 kills and a .234 attack percentage.
Junior
Merced Ramirez dished out 19 assists and added 13 digs with fellow junior
Anabel Seaman adding 18 assists and five digs.
Sophia Folkerts and Kaitlyn Mumm each finished with 13 kills to help lead the Dutch (14-12, 1-5 A-R-C).
The win was only the fifth all-time victory over Central and pushes BVU's season record to 22-2 (5-1 A-R-C). With a loss by Simpson against Nebraska Wesleyan, the Beavers now sit alone in second-place in the A-R-C standings and have locked up the No. 2 seed into the conference tournament.
Buena Vista will wrap up its regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 3, by hosting Coe College (9-16, 2-4 A-R-C) inside of Siebens Fieldhouse at 6 p.m.
