For the second year in a row, the Buena Vista and Simpson volleyball match has come down to the last set. This time, the Beavers took it to the Storm on their home turf, Indianola.  

Last year, Simpson came to Storm Lake and put pressure on the Beavers early in the first two sets of the match, pulling out to a 2-0 lead to start the night. Buena Vista was able to come back and win the next three sets, prevailing over the rival Storm. 

This year was less dramatic. Last Tuesday, Oct. 1, the Beavers traveled to Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa to take on the Storm. Simpson got off to an early start once again, winning the first set against BV, 25 to 18. 

Buena Vista was undeterred as they worked to win a close set two against the Storm, 25 to 21. The back–and–forth play would continue as Simpson won the third 25 to 20.  

Set four proved to be another close game as BVU and Simpson battled past regulation score of 25. Down 2-1 in sets, the Beavers needed this win to take the game to the dramatic finish. The lady Beavers were finally able to rally a win late in the fourth set, ending it with a score of 28 to 26.

This would take the Storm and Beavers to an exciting fifth set, the decider to see if Simpson could pick up its first American Rivers Conference win or if the Beavers would roll on for their second ARC win in a row.  

Another close set was in store for the fans in attendance in Indianola as set five was a back–and–forth affair up to an 11 to 11 tie before the Beavers scored four straight points. Buena Vista would call game, set, and match. 

This was only the fourth win in Indianola for Buena Vista out of the 13 meetings the teams have had since 2003. After the win at Simpson, the Buena Vista Volleyball team and Head Coach Aubrey Havlichek would move to 2-1 in American Rivers Conference play and 5-10 overall. Simpson, under Head Coach Lana Smith, ended the night with an 8-9 record and 0-3 in ARC play. 

Two lady Beavers were able to complete double doubles against the Storm. Sophomore Sydney McLaren tied for a match high of 17 kills, alongside Simpson player Hannah Lester who led the Storm. McLaren completed the double-double with 19 digs as well. The other double-double would come from freshman Taylor Wedemeyer, who worked her way to 40 assists and 12 digs on the night.  

Hannah Smith and Kaitie Serkiz, both freshman from Buena Vista, also played their way into double-digit stats. Smith posted 11 kills on the night while Serkiz was able to earn 15 kills alongside only five errors.  

The Beavers competed at the SISU Classic hosted by Finlandia this past weekend as well. Buena Vista would win all three games and improved to 8-10 on the season.  

The Beavers will host the Loras Duhawks on Senior Night this Thursday, October 11th for their next match.