POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. —The Bethel Pilots (16-19) made their 19th NCCAA National Appearance on Wednesday, Dec. 3 through Thursday, Dec. 4. Following a successful regular season with defeats over five NAIA ranked opponents, Bethel entered into the NCCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed.
The below summaries for Wednesday’s games were composed by the NCCAA Communications Department.
#4 Mid-America Christian University 3, #5 Bethel University 2
In a rematch from Pool Play of the 2024 NCCAA DI Women’s Volleyball National Championship, #4 Mid-America Christian University avenged last season’s loss, knocking off #5 Bethel University 3-2 to open play at this year’s tournament.
- The first set was a set of runs, as Mid-America Christian opened the opening stanza with a 6-0 run, thanks to a trio of kills from Alica Obusekova. Bethel called a timeout and answered with a 7-2 run of their own, as an ace from Lily Vester and a block from Ainsley Tacke and Taylor Delp put the Pilots down just 8-7. MACU answered with another big run, going up 15-8 and forcing another Bethel timeout, as Casady McKinney got in on the action for the Evangels and took advantage of a pair of Pilot errors. A block from Liberty Pierson and Breyana Bosket got the Pilots down five late, but three kills from Seyi Atolagbe clinched the set for MACU, and the Evangels took set one, 25-17.
- Bethel opened set two with a pair of aces from Haley Bidenbach and Paige Franz, a and a block by Bosket put the Pilots ahead 6-3. The Bethel run continued thanks to kills from Bosket and Sophia Beeson, swelling their advantage to 14-8. The Evangels rallied late in the set, as a block from Obusekova and Atolagbe and an ace from Kaetlen Schier cut Bethel’s lead down to 17-14. Bethel pulled away late, going on a 7-0 run, as Tacke added a block and a kill, before another kill from Tacke clinched the set 25-15 in favor of the Pilots, and tied the contest 1-1.
- Both teams traded points in set three, but back-to-back kills from Madi Trayler put MACU ahead 19-11. A kill from Marcela Nalin put the Evangels up eight, and then back-to-back errors from Bethel ended the set with MACU taking set three 25-15 and going ahead 2-1.
- With their backs against the wall, Bethel came out firing in set four, as kills from Taylor Delp and Tacke got the Pilots up 11-5. The run continued thanks to kills from Pierson and Delp to swell the lead to ten points, and a service error by MACU ended the set for the third straight set at a score of 25-15, this time in favor of Bethel and the Pilots tied it 2-2 to force set five.
- Set five opened back-and-forth between the two squads, before a kill from Trayler sparked a run for MACU, and Benson and Obusekova added a trio of points to make it match point for the Evangels. Trayler ended it later in the set, and Mid-America Christian took the final set 15-8 and the match 3-2.
- Obusekova led MACU with 15 kills and hit .205 for the contest, adding two block assists, one solo block, and five digs. Casady McKinney added nine kills and 22 assists, along with eight digs. Despite the loss, Pierson finished the match with 10 kills and six block assists for Bethel.
#1 Columbia International University 3, #5 Bethel University 1
Top-seeded Columbia International University was the first team to reach two wins at the 2025 NCCAA DI Women’s Volleyball National Championship, defeating #5 Bethel University 3-1.
- After trading points early, kills from Savannah Kelly and Lydia Gustafson pushed Columbia International ahead 9-5 in set one. Katelynn Mundy added another for the Rams to push CIU on top 13-7, but kills from Liberty Pierson and Breyana Bosket helped Bethel cut the lead down to 13-11. A kill from Zcearia James pushed CIU back ahead 17-12, and a trio of attack errors down the stretch helped Columbia International stay on top and take the first set 25-18.
- Both teams opened the second set with 5-1 runs, as a block by Ainsley Tacke and Taylor Delp helped Bethel tie the contest at six points apiece. Another block from Delp and Haley Bidenbach and a kill from Delp pushed the Pilots ahead 10-7, before an ace from Eevy Bellar tied the match 15-15. Two blocks from Carlee Groneveld, with help from Gustafson and Bellar, put CIU out in front, and an ace from Kelcey Mangum clinched the second set 25-18 in favor of the Rams, putting Columbia International on top 2-0.
- Bethel did not go down quietly in set three, sailing out to a 6-2 lead thanks to blocks from Bosket and Tacke and another block from Delp and Pierson. A block from Gustafson along with kills from Groneveld and Macy Brooks tied the contest at 10-10. Both sides traded points for a bit before a trio of errors pushed Bethel ahead 18-14. A kill from Tacke put Bethel on top 23-19, but the Rams forced overtime after a service error by the Pilots. Ary Searle picked up a kill to put Bethel on top by one, and a miscue by CIU helped Bethel stay alive, winning the set 26-24 and cutting the deficit to 2-1.
- Columbia International wasted little time pulling ahead in set four, rattling off seven straight points to break an early tie thanks to a pair of kills from Mundy to put the Rams up 13-7. Two errors from Bethel swelled the CIU advantage to 16-9, and a block from Mary Norwood and Gustafson pushed CIU ahead 21-12. Two final kills from Gustafson clinched it for the Rams 25-14, and Columbia International picked up their second win of the day with the 3-1 victory.
- Norwood paced CIU with 12 kills while also picking up a trio of digs and three block assists. Bellar added six kills while picking up three block assists, and Gronevald had four block assists of her own.
#8 Sterling College 3, #5 Bethel University 2
- In their best game of the week, Bethel’s Haley Biedenbach posted a season high for assists (54), crushing her previous record of 52 against the Spring Arbor University Cougars (Oct. 29). Lily Vester hit her second best season record for aces (three)
- The Pilots were neck and neck in the opening sets, and pulled away in the third with a sizable victory (25-14). In the third set, Bethel opened with an early five point run concluding with an attacking error by Sterling (7-2).
- Haley Biedenbach shone in the final five points of the third, feeding the ball to Freshman Sophia Beeson who terminated three kills, while also feeding a kill to Taylor Delp, before wrapping it up with a service ace.
- Sterling’s blocking and hitting percentages were the two statistical categories that beat out Bethel. Sterling posted 13 blocks to Bethel’s five, while recording a 0.235 hitting percentage to the Pilots’ 0.205.