MISHAWAKA, Ind. — In a loud Gates Gymnasium the Bethel Pilots (9-4, 0-1) fell in a Crossroads League battle with the Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars (13-0, 1-0) that went five sets.
Maddy Payne had her ninth 10+ kill match and her second in a row after ending the night with 16 kills and Reanna Brown had 22 assists both leading the Pilots in their respective categories.
Tied 19 all in the opening set, the Pilots went on a 5-1 run thanks to Michaela Whitaker and Ainsley Tacke scoring on top of Cougar errors to take a 1-0 set lead. The second set was a battle after a 20-20 tie but the Cougar rally tied the match at 1-1.
BU fell behind in the third set with a combination of a strong MVNU offense and some errors by the Pilots took an 11-11 tie to a 17-10 deficit quickly. The Pilots put up three straight points to keep it 24-15 but a service error gave Mount Vernon the set lead 2-1.
The tides turned again with the Pilots clicking on offense to gain a four-point lead at 16-12 thanks to Payne’s kill off a set by Brown before Payne put away the fourth set 25-18 at forced a fifth set.
In the fifth, the Pilots trailed by three and couldn’t get over the hump before the Cougars protected their undefeated season with a 15-10 set victory and a 3-2 match win.
NEXT TIME OUT
Bethel continues the Crossroads League season on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. in the Gates Gymnasium against the Huntington Foresters.