Box Score BEMIDJI, Minn. (BSU Gymnasium) [box] - The Bemidji State University volleyball team made quick work of the University of Mary Marauders as the Beavers swept U-Mary in three games. The Beavers earned the victory by scores of 30-11, 30-25, 30-25. With the win over the Marauders the Beavers end a five-match losing skid to U-Mary and pick up its first win at home versus the Marauders in just two tries.

Eliminating errors and forcing their opponents to make them was a big part of the Beavers three game sweep over the Marauders tonight. BSU committed just 28 errors, 18 attack errors, two serving errors, four receiving errors, two blocking errors and two ball handling errors to its counterparts 48 errors. The Marauders had 24 attack errors, 10 serving errors, four receiving errors, four blocking errors and six ball handling errors in the match.

After sitting out two matches due to injuries, Brittney Burns (Sr., OH, LeSueur, Minn.) led the Beaver attack with 14 kills hitting at a pace of .263 (14k-4e-38at). Heather Sampson (Fr., OH, Brooklyn Park, Minn.) joined Burns in double-digit kills as she added 10 kills in the match hitting .241 (10k-3e-29ta).

Brie Groskreutz (So., OH, Reedsburg, Wis.) paced the Beavers on the defensive end as she recorded 25 digs on the evening, she was the lone Beaver with double-digit digs. The 25 digs is the most digs by a BSU player since 2003 when Kristine Engman recorded 22 digs on Sept. 13, 2003. Nicole Olson (Fr., OH, Baudette, Minn.) controlled the net for Beavers recording five blocks on the night (1bs-4ba).

Setter’s Alicia Beaman (Jr., S, St. Paul Park, Minn.) and Allison Kunde (So., S, Burnsville, Minn.) each compiled double-digit assists in the match. Beaman led the way with 28 assists and Kunde chipped in with 12 to pace the Beaver offensive.

The Marauders were led by Tatiani Santos who recorded the second most kills in the match with 11 kills, hitting at a rate of .107 (11k-8e-28at). Santos was the lone U-Mary player to record double-digit kills. Makenzie Hennessy led the Marauders on the defensive end with 16 digs while Kendra Hobbs chipped in with 14 digs. Pacing the offense for the Marauders was Kristin Collins who had 29 assists, a match-high.

The Beavers controlled the match from the first serve. In game one the Beavers jumped out to a 7-2 lead forcing U-Mary to take a timeout. After the timeout the Beavers pushed the lead to 10-3 behind the serving of Brie Groskreutz. BSU kept pushing forward increasing its lead to 18-4 forcing the Marauders to take its second timeout of the game. The Beavers never looked back and finished game one 30-11, its biggest margin of victory of any game this season, and its largest margin of victory in any game since rally scoring began in 2001.

Game two saw the Beavers jump out to another early lead, forcing the Marauders to take a timeout at 15-10. After the timeout the Beavers pushed its lead to as large as 10 at 26-16 and ended up holding off a Marauder rally as they Beavers took game two 30-25 and a two game leading going into the ten-minute break.

Game three was a little more even as their were ten tie scores and two lead changes throughout the game. The Marauders took its first lead of the game and the match at 19-20 and looked as if they were going to force the match into a fourth game. U-Mary pushed its lead to 24-21 and the Beavers stop the Marauder run and went on a 9-1 run to close out the game and the match with a 30-25 game three win.

The win improves the Beavers record to 8-9 overall and 4-7 in the NSIC. The eight wins is the most wins since 2004 when the Beavers had ten wins. With the win the Beavers increase its win total to three matches at home this season and gives the Beavers a two-match wining streak at home. It is the first time the Beavers have won three matches at home since the 2004 season and it is the first time the Beavers have held a two-match home win streak since 2004. The 8-9 mark is the best start for the Beavers since 2003 when the Beavers were 9-8 through the first seventeen matches of the season.

With the win over the Marauders the Beavers improve to 6-5 all-time versus U-Mary. BSU improves to 1-1 all-time versus the Marauders on the campus of Bemidji State University.

Bemidji State (8-9; 4-7 NSIC) will be looking to extend its win streak to three matches for the second time this season as the Beavers will wrap up their week of play versus the Northern State Wolves Saturday afternoon from the BSU Gymnasium. The match is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m.

--beavers--