<ain came down in sheets, but not even the soaking conditions could keep the Knight faithful away from the storm taking place inside West Gymnasium as the Carleton College volleyball team took down the squad from Bethel University in a five-set thriller (25-23, 21-25, 16-
25, 27-25, 18-16) Wednesday evening.
The Knights (9-2, 1-1 MIAC) struck immediately in the opening set, jumping out to a 14-6 lead before the Royals showed grit and battled back to delicately balance the score at 23-23. A duo of kills by Carleton put the set away 25-23 and handed the home squad an early 1-0 match lead. In the following set, it was Bethel (10-4, 0-2 MIAC) who dominated the early stages, grabbing leads of 12-6 and 18-13. The Knights were unfazed, however, and made it a two-point set at 23-21 before the Royals ripped a page out of Carleton’s book and closed out the frame 25-21 with back-to-back kills.
Bethel rode its momentum from the previous set to accelerate to a 16-8 set three lead and force a Carleton timeout. The Knights went on a mini-run of their own, but the Royals put it all together late to take the set 25-16 as well as a 2-1 match lead. Set four witnessed an intense
battle throughout, as the two MIAC squads exchanged leads eight times. After a 25-25 tie, Carleton flexed its muscles to claim the set 27-25 and force a decisive fifth frame. Set five served as a microcosm of the match itself, as both teams were locked in an incredible struggle.
Following a tie at 16 apiece, the Knights took over and finished the match in extraordinary fashion, winning the fifth set 18-16. “It was a great win for us tonight,” said head coach Heidi Jaynes after the win. “I thought our team showed a lot of determination in coming back in sets four and five. Lucy had another big night because of her transition offense and thanks to Katie, Trish, Maggie and Anna doing a solid job on serve receive. Kat found ways to score and block big for us down the stretch and Maggie and Trish made smart choices on the outside.”
Pacing the offense for the Knights was junior Lucy Stevens (Portland, Ore./Oregon Episcopal School), who notched a match-best 21 kills. Katherine Miles (Jr./Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) added 11 kills in the match. Caroline Duke (Sr./Evanston, Ill.) led the home squad with a match-high 33 assists. Carleton received a massive boost from seniors Maggie Carragher (Glencoe, Ill./New Trier) and Trish Hare (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook, Ill.), who tallied 10 kills each. Hare chipped in a team-high 24 digs.
Tina Hoppe (So./Shakopee, Minn.) helmed the Royals with 19 kills, while Holly Ellwanger (So./ North St. Paul, Minn.) contributed 27 assists. The Knights will have to regroup quickly as they next host Augsburg College on Friday night. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and a live audio and video broadcast will be provided via Knights online.