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Knights take down Vikings, win for Unke

By Travis Rosenau 4 min read

NEW ULM -- The Martin Luther College Knights volleyball team couldn't have asked for a much better night to earn an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference win on Tuesday night.

Against Bethany Lutheran College and on the night MLC honored the late James Unke, the Knights held on to a 25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 28-26 win over the Vikings.

Unke, former MLC Athletic Director for 25 years until his death in July 2022, was honored Tuesday night before the third set as the school officially named its gymnasium court James M. Unke Court.

The court now has a logo with Unke's signature on near the sideline across from the bleachers.

Junior outside hitter Lauren Paulsen led the Knights in the win with 10 kills, 14 digs and three blocks.

"I think it was really cool that we had so many people out and it was the perfect to dedicate the court to James because there was so much support," Paulsen said. "My oldest brother [Mike] also played for him when he was here, so we do have a lot of connections and I think the school just really does appreciate him. So dedicating the court was a really big thing and I'm just excited to keep playing on it and play for him and play for God."

While the Knights had all the energy in the first two sets and had BLC on its heels after falling down 2-0 in the match, the Vikings took the momentum away in the third set thanks in large part to Lexiss Trygg.

Trygg, a 6-foot-1 sophomore outside hitter that finished the night with 13 kills, had four kills in the third set and ended the set with one of them.

The Knights started that set slow on the attack and allowed the Vikings to score 7 of their first 10 points on errors.

The fourth set was worth the price of admission alone as the lead changed hands eight times.

Senior middle hitter Abigail Winkel, who was held without a kill until the fourth set when she collected four, had back-to-back kills to put MLC up 17-13.

She also had two blocks in the match and was key to the Knights regaining their aggressive attack.

"One thing we've been talking about a lot is aggressive swings and stuff, and I think everybody came out and was really thinking about where they were putting their shots and swinging big," Winkel said. "And then to bring that back, especially in the fourth set after a loss in the third was really huge."

After the Knights took that 17-13 lead and had its student section stamping their feet, BLC took its final timeout of the set.

The Vikings came out of the timeout strong, tying it at 17-all.

An ace by Grace Kieselhorst and a kill by Megan Kieselhorst put the Knights up 23-20 later, but back-to-back kills by Trygg and an MLC attack error had the set tied up again.

Winkel got a kill to give MLC a 24-23 lead, but a serving error again tied the set. Paulsen then put the Knights up 25-24 before another MLC error tied things up.

After an attack error had BLC up 26-25, a swing by Trygg sent the ball deep and out of bounds to tie things up at 26-all. Grace Kieselhorst then had a kill before a block by 2022 Minnesota Valley Lutheran grad Ella Schlei ended the set and match.

Grace Kieselhorst and Megan Kieselhorst each had seven kills for the Knights in the win, with Grace Kieselhorst adding 13 digs. Paige Biesterfeld added six kills for the Knights, while Schlei had four kills and two total blocks, Ella Walz had 14 set assists, Naomi Bridgemen had 13 digs and Anna Kieselhorst had 10 digs.

Winkel said the win over a UMAC rival was a great way to start conference play, and she was happy to be a part of such an important night.

"It was really exciting," Winkel said. "I felt like everyone on the team brought 100% and our fans were great tonight. And to be able to do it in the memory of coach Unke was really special. We're really excited for the rest of the season."

MLC (3-10, 1-0) travels to St. Paul to take on Northwestern in a 7 p.m. UMAC match Friday, while BLC (3-8, 0-1) is at Northwestern on Saturday afternoon.

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