Volleyball Suffers Loss in Five-Set Thriller at Luther

The Buena Vista volleyball team played its eighth five-set match of the season on Tuesday night at Luther College (1-58, 2-4 IIAC), and after winning the third and fourth sets to force the decisive set, the Beavers came up just short in the end, falling 15-11.

The match was close from start to finish.  Despite posting a match-high 16 kills in the opener, the Beavers came up just short, as Luther picked up a 26-24 victory.  The Norse then grabbed the 2-0 lead after taking the second set 25-22, with BVU held to just nine kills.

The offense was strong for the Beavers in the next two sets, as the team finished with double-digit kills each time, including a strong .364 hitting percentage in the third set en route to the 25-17 win.  The match was evened at 2-2 following BVU's 25-21 victory in the fourth set, but the Norse hung on in the final set, holding the Beavers to just five kills and four errors.

Senior Lacie Drennan led three Beavers in double-digits with 17 kills, moving her past 300 total for the year (303).  She now has the 10th-highest total in program history since the start of rally scoring.  Freshman Kirsten VanZuiden followed with 14, while senior Kacie Woodley chipped in with 13.  Freshman Courtney Van Haaften dished the ball to the hot-hand throughout the match, finishing with 45 assists and moving past 800 for the season.

Defensively, senior Kelsey Essick registered a match-high 21 digs, with Chelsea Gubbels and Drennan next with 13 and 10, respectively.  Woodley turned in three total blocks.

Buena Vista is now 7-15 overall (0-5 IIAC) and will return home on Friday evening for a non-conference match-up with the College of St. Mary beginning at 7:00pm.

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