Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Martin Luther College’s Paige Biesterfeld (14) and Lydia Feidt attempt to block an attack by Bethany Lutheran College’s Sarah Strom during an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference volleyball match on Tuesday night at MLC.

NEW ULM — Martin Luther College found itself on the wrong end of a comeback Tuesday as Bethany Lutheran College overcame a two-set deficit to pull out a 13-25, 17-25, 25-12, 25-23, 15-10 win in an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference volleyball opener.

The Knights seemed to have everything going their way in the first two sets, but errors piled up on them in the third set as they turned in a -.219 hitting percentage to allow the Vikings to stay alive.

“I think we took our foot off the gas a little bit and maybe relaxed for just a moment and it opened the door,” Knights head coach Emma Holzhueter said. “I think it became more of an uphill battle at that point. They [BLC] really picked up their level of play as well.”

The Knights saw improvement in the fourth set, but the Vikings didn’t let up and were able to control the set. The Knights took a 1-0 lead in that set, but they didn’t lead again until freshman Lydia Feidt’s kill gave them a 20-19 lead. Feidt’s clutch attack late in the set, which included three consecutive kills, wasn’t quite enough to put the Vikings away, however, and the Vikings ended the set on a kill from Rilee Hohbein.

The Vikings jumped out to an 8-6 lead and then a 12-7 lead in the fifth set, which prompted Holzhueter to burn both of her timeouts. MLC got a 3-0 run out of the second timeout, including an ace serve from Kylie Wolf, but the Vikings answered with a 3-0 run of their own to complete the comeback.

“We definitely let go of some of the controllables on our side,” Holzhueter said. “We weren’t as sharp or as disciplined as we needed to be to play at the same level that we did in the first and second set. Our discipline slipped a little and that opens up possibilities.”

The Knights’ play in the opening set made it seem like fans were in for a short night of volleyball. MLC ran away from BLC midway through the set to lead 18-10 after a 6-0 run.

The Knights then ended the set strong after a block from Hannah Willems and a kill from Feidt, who led the Knights’ offensively on the night with 10 kills.

MLC took an early 12-5 lead in the second set after an ace by Willems, who finished with three aces, six kills and 10 digs on the night. The Vikings cut the deficit late, but the Knights ended the set with a 3-0 run to take a two-set advantage.

Grace Kieselhorst had eight kills, 16 set assists and nine digs also for the Knights, while Lauren Paulsen had eight kills, Wolf had 14 set assists and 10 digs and Naomi Bridgemen added 15 digs.

The Vikings were led by Sarah Strom’s eight kills, while Alexis Morsching added six kills.

The Knights fell to 4-9 overall on the year and 0-1 in the UMAC, while BLC moved to 3-8 overall and 1-0 in the UMAC.

“We played really well, really strong in those first two sets,” Holzhueter said. “I think we proved to ourselves what we can do when we’re focused and disciplined, so I think there are a lot of positives there. I think we also showed that some of it’s choice on our side, we have to choose to stay focused through a whole match, but, ultimately, it’s the first game in conference. So while it’s a tough loss for us, it’s one of 14 matches, so we’re going to learn our lessons and power forward and use it as motivation.”

MLC is at UW-Superior on Friday.