STORM LAKE, Iowa (Sept. 18, 2026) - The Buena Vista volleyball team is 7-0 heading into this weekend’s UM-Morris Quadrangular, and it is off to one of its best starts in program history.

The last time a BVU volleyball team began a year unbeaten through seven matches was back in 1997 when the Beavers were also 7-0. Since the start of rally scoring in 2003, there have been only four winning streaks of any kind of at least seven matches for the program. The lonest stretch was 11 straight in 2014. BVU is currently one of only 21 DIII programs that are still unbeaten.

Not only is the team unbeaten to begin the 2026 campaign, but the Beavers also haven’t dropped a single set. During that stretch, the team has an attack percentage of .298 and has held opponents to .002. BVU currently leads the A-R-C in nearly every statistical category.

The Beavers have been filling up the stat sheets with a handful of its underclassmen doing a bulk  of the damage.  Sophomore Charley Hernandez (Glenwood, Iowa/Glenwood) has been a force out of the gate and ranks second in the A-R-C in kills per set at 4.09. She’s also third in attack percentage (.392), first in ace serves per set (0.76) and eighth in digs per set (3.57). An honorable mention all-conference selection as a freshman last year, Hernandez already has two matches this season in which she tallied 18 kills and no attack errors. That kill total ranks sixth all-time in a three-set match in program history. She’s currently ranked 29th in the NCAA in attack percentage and is 15th in points per set (15.0).

Alongside Hernandez has been freshman Nora Konz (Treynor, Iowa/Treynor) and Keely Wray (Glenwood, Iowa/Glenwood). Konz trails only Hernandez on the team with 64 kills and is averaging 3.05 per set which also ranks seventh in the A-R-C. Earlier this week, she registered a career-high 18 kills and had only two errors during a home victory over Grinnell College. She also has one double-double (kills-digs) when she posted 10 kills and 12 digs in the home opener against Rockford University on Sept.  12. Wray has been instrumental as the starting libero and has been all over the court. Defensively, she ranks fourth in the league in digs per set at 3.95 and has also chipped in offensively with 32 assists and five errors.

Senior Sydney Meints (Granger, Iowa/Dallas Center-Grimes) adds to the punishment for opponents at the net on both sides. She is third on the team with 36 kills and just posted 10 of those with no errors and an attack percentage of .714 against the Pioneers earlier this week.

The players dishing the attackers the ball primarily have been the junior tandem of Merced Ramirez and Anabel Seaman.  The two are essentially equal with both having played all 21 sets and Seaman sitting at 107 assists and Ramirez 106. Ramirez also has 15 kills and 10 ace serves. Defensively, they have combined for 89 total digs.

BVU isn’t just ranking high in the statistical categories at the conference level, the Beavers are also among the best in all of DIII so far this season. Below are where BVU ranks in the NCAA as of Sept. 17:

Attack percentage: 1st (.298)
Kills per set: 1st (14.14)
Opponent attack percentage: 2nd (.002)
Assists per set: 2nd (13.05)

Buena Vista looks to set a new school record for the best start to a season in school history when it faces Concordia College (MN) on Friday, Sept. 18 at 5 p.m. The team also plays Martin Luther College at 7 p.m. before taking on UM-Morris on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 10 a.m.