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NEW ULM -- Buena Vista University swept Martin Luther College 27-25, 25-20, 25-20 on Tuesday in a nonconference women's volleyball match.
Both teams entered the match with similar records. BVU was 3-5, while MLC had a 2-5 mark. From opening serve to final point, both teams played evenly.
Just when the Knights appeared to gain momentum, the Beavers found a way to get it back. There were a number of long rallys spread throughout the match when both sides found a way to return the ball.
MLC held narrow leads throughout the first set, but BVU found a way to tie it. MLC's biggest lead was 4 points and that occurred four times during the set. There were 11 ties and four lead changes.
Madelinn Romsdahl's return off the knuckles late in the set gave the Knights a 19-17 lead. Two plays later, BVU's Kyla Vaughn got a block to tie it at 19-19. MLC had back-to-back unforced errors which gave BVU a 2-point lead.
Ella Schlei and Paige Biesterfeld got a double block on BVU and Lauren Paulsen's block tied it at 21-21.
A short time later, Paulsen's kill tied it at 25-25. MLC committed a net serve violation which gave BVU a 26-25 lead. Jilly Janssen got the ball to Courtney Johnson, who scored BVU's set-winning point.
MLC led for approximately half of the second set. Rachel Brockney's (BVU) kill tied it at 9-9. Johnson's block regained the lead for BVU at 10-9.
Later in the set, Skylar Cole of BVU hit the ball over the net. MLC returned it and Cole earned a kill, which made it 23-19 for BVU. Erin Coogler's ace serve made it 24-19. On the next play, Paulsen's kill brought MLC within 4 points to 24-20. The Knights committed an unforced error on the next play for BVU to earn the set point.
Both teams battled hard in the third set, with neither one able to pull very far ahead. There were 12 ties and seven lead changes.
Paige Biesterfeld's kill gave the Knights their final lead of the match of 15-14. MLC made an error on the next play, which tied it at 15-15.
The final tie of the match was 19-19 when Erin Coogler of BVU knocked the ball out of bounds. Later, both teams exchanged service errors.
On the next play, Janssen set up Johnson for a kill, which made it 23-20 BVU. Johnson delivered the ball between two MLC defenders who dove to the court in an attempt to return the ball. That took place after a long rally when both sides returned the ball.
Janssen earned another set assist on the next play when she got the ball to Brockney for a kill (24-20). The final play of the match saw Janssen set up Johnson again for BVU's set point and match victory.
Emma Holzhueter, MLC head coach said both teams played scrappy. She added that BVU didn't give up.
"We need to clean up a few errors," Holzhueter said. "We have some more tough competitions coming up because it's not an easy nonconference schedule," she said.
She hopes that the lessons learned during these challenging matches can be applied to the conference schedule.
Holzhueter said the team had to move some players into different positions that they don't normally play. She was pleased with how well the team adapted, despite "not having all the information." The players stepped up and they ran with the new challenges and they did well.
Paulsen led MLC with eight kills, while Megan Kieselhorst and Biesterfeld each had six kills. Biesterfeld also had four blocks, while Ella Walz had 15 set assists.
Brockney led BVU with seven kills.
MLC (2-6) will participate in the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse Tournament on Saturday. The Knights will battle Augsburg at 11 a.m. and then they will play Lakeland at 3 p.m.