BELOIT, Wis. – The Beloit College volleyball team won a dramatic first set, but Eureka took the next three to claim a 3-1 victory at Flood Arena on Wednesday night. The scores were 25-27, 25-20, 25-17 and 25-16 in Eureka's favor. The Buccaneers fall to 6-13 overall and 1-6 in Midwest Conference play, while Eureka improved to 9-14 and 1-6.
The opener was the match's best stretch for the Buccaneers. The set featured 11 ties and six lead changes. Eureka built a 14-8 advantage, but Beloit answered with a 6-0 run to pull even at 14-14, and the teams traded points the rest of the way. After the Eagles tied it at 23-23, Beloit regained the lead at 24-24 on a Naomi Murphy (Dubuque, Iowa) kill. Murphy's kill made it 25-25, then Madeline Holthaus (Saint Paul, MN) serve helped force an Eureka error for 26-25. Murphy finished the set with a kill from a Aaliyah Gerard (Aiea, HI) set to make it 27-25. Murphy had five kills in the set and was the Buccaneers' go-to attacker, with Lilianne Bethards (Rockford, IL) adding three kills, Daniela Perez (San Francisco, CA) three and Madalyn Huizel (Faribault, MN) two. Beloit hit .171 in the set.
In the second set, teams were tied 10-10 midway through the set, and Beloit led 13-12 after a Murphy kill. Eureka then went on a decisive run, closing the set by scoring the final five points after Beloit pulled within 20-20. Beloit hit just .052 in the set despite 58 attempts.
In set 3, Eureka jumped out 9-1 and Beloit never recovered despite a late push. Holthaus put down three kills in the set, and Murphy and Selin Tufte (Clarkdale, Ariz.) each added two. The Buccaneers hit .000 as a team in the set.
In the final set, Beloit led 13-10 midway through the set before the Eagles scored 12 of the next 14 points. Bethards led Beloit with three kills.
In the back row, libero Maddisyn Adams (Stockett, MT) was strong in serve receive with 40 receptions and just two errors (.952), plus 11 digs. Adelaide Schmitt (Aurora, Colo.) had 10 digs, and Renee Stout (Nocona, TX) added three aces and 14 receptions.
The Bucs look to bounce back with a conference match up at Grinnell on October 30th at 7pm.
