BELOIT, Wis. - Beloit College pushed Luther in all three sets this afternoon at Flood Arena, but the visitors held on for a 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 sweep. Beloit fell to 6-12 overall and 1-6 in conference play. Luther improved to 6-19 and 2-5.
Lilianne Bethards (Rockford, IL) led Beloit with 11 kills on 28 swings, hit .286, and added a block assist for a team-best 11.5 points. She was nearly flawless in the opening set, with 5 kills on 10 attacks and no errors.
Kierra Rayne Hoover (Albuquerque, New Mexico) was the second offensive option with 6 kills on 18 attempts (.222) and 6.0 points. She hit .300 in the second set with 3 kills. Daniela Perez (San Francisco, CA) added 4 kills and 4.0 points, and Naomi Murphy (Dubuque, Iowa) and Madalyn Huizel (Faribault, MN) each finished with 3.0 points. Murphy contributed two block assists, while Huizel served one of Beloit's two aces.
Setter Aaliyah Gerard (Aiea, HI) ran the offense with 10 assists. Keira Taylor (Eau Claire, WI) came in for the third set and dished out 6 assists in that set alone. On defense, libero Maddisyn Adams (Stockett, MT) led the team with 14 digs and was strong in serve receive, handling 18 reception attempts with one error. Renee Stout (Nocona, TX) added 12 digs and recorded the other ace-producing serves for the passing game, fielding 14 receptions. Adams also served an ace in the second set. Beloit finished with 54 digs as a team.
Set 1 (17-25): Luther jumped out to a 3-0 lead and later ran off seven straight points to go up 16-7. Beloit never quit. Trailing 19-8, the Beloit side outscored Luther 9-6 the rest of the way. Bethards had a kill from Gerard's set, Hoover and Bethards added late kills, and Bethards recorded back-to-back kills at 16-24 and 17-24 before Luther closed it out.
Set 2 (21-25): This was Beloit's best stretch of the match. Four straight Luther attack errors, with Stout serving, gave Beloit an 8-5 lead and forced a Luther timeout. Beloit led again at 13-10 on a Murphy kill, but Luther answered with a 7-1 run to take control. Down 14-18, Beloit climbed back to within one on Adams' service ace and Bethards kills. A Hoover kill kept Beloit within three late, and Hoover's kill at 21-24 made it close, but Luther's Lindsay Hanson ended it.
Set 3 (19-25): Beloit trailed 14-7 and called a timeout. Out of it, Huizel served an ace and the Bethards-Hoover-Perez attack cut the deficit to 14-17. The surge came from a 7-3 run, with Hoover and Perez both scoring off Taylor sets, and Bethards adding a kill at 12-16. Beloit later pulled within four at 17-23 when Selin Tufte, the only attempt of her night, put away a kill. Bethards added one more at 18-23, but a Luther serve ended the match at 19-25.
The Buccaneers are back home on Wednesday to host Eureka College. Game time is set for 6 pm.
