The late-set run was amidst for the Gustavus volleyball team on Friday night against visiting Bethel, as the Gusties fell 3-0 to the Royals on Gus Young Court. Gustavus falls to 13-6 overall and 3-2 in the MIAC, while Bethel improves to 14-6 overall and 4-1 in the MIAC with the victory.
The Gusties suffered the sweep by scores of 25-22, 25-22, and 25-19. Bethel’s Nicole Wriedt was dominant at the net throughout the night, putting down a game-high 17 kills and making just three errors for an attack percentage of .424.
“We came out and played point-to-point, but errors were the difference,” said Head Coach Rachelle Dosch. “We knew coming into the match that the team who made the fewest errors was going to be successful. Errors at key points hurt and a credit to Bethel with the road win.”
After trading points in the opening set of the match, Bethel broke out to a 16-12 lead halfway through the frame. The Gusties battled back to take a 20-19 lead after an 8-3 run. With score tied at 22-22, Bethel rattled off three straight points to take the set 25-22 and the lead 1-0 in the match.
There were eight lead changes with the scored tied on 13 occasions in a back-and-forth second set. The score was knotted at 22-22 for the second straight set, yet the Gusties came out on the short end of a set-finishing 3-0 run for the second time, falling 25-22. Gustavus hitter Emily Phillips went to work in the second, tallying six kills in the set. Phillips finished with a team-high 10 kills (.200) in the match.
The Gusties fell behind early in the third fame and couldn’t make up the difference for the remainder, trailing by as many as seven points on two occasions. A kill by Nicole Wriedt gave Bethel the set 25-19 and the sweep 3-0.
“We played well at points of the match – dug a lot of balls, were solid at the net – but it was little too late at the end,” said Dosch.
Gustavus finished with an attack percentage of .123, while Bethel hit at a .214 percentage on the night.
Three Gustavus players finished with double-figure digs in the match including Paige Breneman (16), Olivia Warren (10), and Shelby Nosan (10). Olivia Warren completed the double-double with 10 kills (.200), while Malea Noennig distributed 30 assists. With 30 assists tonight, Noennig becomes the fifth Gustavus volleyball player to record 2,000 career assists.
The Gustavus volleyball team will be back on Gus Young Court tomorrow afternoon with a match against Augsburg slated for 1:00 p.m.