MISHAWAKA, Ind. — On Saturday afternoon, it was a busy day on campus for the Pilots’ (10-4, 1-1) second Crossroads League matchup with the Huntington Foresters (8-4, 1-1) in the Gates Gymnasium.
The attacking core of Ainsley Tacke, Gracen Norris, and Maddy Payne showed out with a combined for 35 of the Pilots’ 55 kills; Tacke led the way with 13 kills with Gracen Norris following with 12. Payne impressed with 12 blocks at the net and Norris had six coupled with Paige Franz’s 25 digs to round out the defensive effort. The Pilots came together for 16 blocks which ties for the most this season since the Pilots’ 3-1 win over the Concordia Cardinals back on Aug. 17.
The first set was tight until 13-13 when BU went on a 5-1 run to grow the lead to 18-14; after a Breyana Bosket kill to force set point but the Foresters had a kill to set up Taylor Delp for the set point.
Late in the second set, Bethel called a timeout at 20-17 and the Foresters went on a 5-2 run to win the set. HU had nearly five consecutive kills that were broken up by Ainsley Tacke and a service error delayed the set win that eventually went to Huntington 25-19 and brought the match to a 1-1 set tie.
The Foresters stormed to a 14-9 lead from a slew of Pilot errors and well-placed serves led to a 25-13 set three HU win. Bethel turned the tables in the fourth set but had to battle through an 18-18 tie where the Pilots went on a 5-1 run to win set four 25-19 and force a fifth set.
Bethel wasted no time with a 7-2 run that was capped off by Payne’s kill, but the Foresters tied the set 9-9 with the help of four straight kills and a Pilot error that caused head coach Erica Dregits to call a timeout. Bethel would secure the set and match with another 7-1 tear to take their first Crossroads League win of the season.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Pilots hit the road to Indianapolis, Ind. on Wednesday, Sept. 11 to face the NAIA 24th-ranked Marian Knights who are 11-1 on the season and 2-0 in Crossroads League play. The Knights come off a sweep over Saint Francis (Ind.) and a 3-1 win over Spring Arbor.