MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Bemidji State University volleyball team continued its nonconference slate Friday as it faced Northern Michigan University and Quincy University (Ill.) in the first day of the Superior Oasis Wildcat Open, hosted by NMU in Marquette, Mich. BSU managed to gain a split on the day. After an opening loss to Northern Michigan in three sets, 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-12), the Beavers bounced back to beat Quincy in five, 3-2 (20-25, 25-13, 20-25, 25-19, 15-12).

The Beavers got out to a quick 3-0 lead against Northern Michigan. The Wildcats came storming back with a 13-3 run and never looked back taking the first set by a score of 25-14. BSU failed to get its attack on track, posting just four kills on 22 attempts, while committing six attack errors (-.091) in the first set.  

BSU struggled on the attack again in the second set, hitting just .056 (5k-4e-18ta). The Wildcats took advantage of the Beavers’ hitting woes, riding 15 kills and an efficient .560 (15k-1e-22ta) attacking percentage of to a 25-11 second-set victory.

Leading 2-0 in the match, NMU took a commanding 9-0 lead to open the third set.  Trailing 18-6 later in the match, BSU clawed its way back with a 6-0 run on the serve of Courtney Volkmann (S, 5-7, Jr., Wadena, Minn.) The run allowed the Beavers to cut the deficit to 18-12, but that was close as Bemidji State would get a the Wildcats took set, 25-12, and the match 3-0.

“We struggled partly due to our play, but also due to Northern Michigan putting a lot of pressure on us from the service line,” said BSU head coach Wayne Chadwick.

Jessica Yost (OH, 6-3, Fr., Bemidji, Minn.) led BSU with six kills in the match. Volkmann posted seven digs and nine assists to lead the Beavers in both categories.

Rachel Craig (Jr., MB, Wadena, Minn.) recorded 18 kills and hit .394, while the team matched a season-best 76 digs, paced by a career-high 30 by Kayla DeJong (DS, 5-8, So., Jefferson, Wis.), to propel the Beavers to a 3-2 victory over Quincy in the second match of the day.

Despite earning an early 8-7 advantage over Quincy, the Hawks rattled off six consecutive points to take a 13-8 lead and the Beavers would not recover. Quincy never surrendered the lead, winning the first set, 25-20.

Quincy continued to roll to open the second set, but a kill by Craig gave the Beavers a 12-11 lead and woke the BSU attack. The Beavers closed the set on a 13-2 run, which included the final 10 points of the set (25-13), each off the jump serve of Volkmann.

The third set was a back-and-fourth affair that saw the score tied on 11 occasions and the lead change hands five times. Tied 16-16, Quincy capitalized on back-to-back attacking errors by the Beavers to take an 18-16 lead. Despite using consecutive kills by Yost to trim the deficit to 22-20 late, the Beavers would drop the match 25-20.

Bemidji State evened the match 2-2 in the fourth. Elissa Christensen (L/DS, 5-6, Jr., Montevideo, Minn.) registered back-to-back services aces to open the set and put BSU up 2-1 and the Beavers would never relinquish the lead. BSU hit .256 (13k-3-39-ta) logging 13 kills on 39 swings and did not commit an error until the score was 24-16. The Beavers went on to win the set by a score of 25-19.

In the fifth and deciding set, the Beavers continued their momentum that they got from the fourth and won by a score of 15-12. Craig led the team with three kills, while Yost added a pair of kills in the set. In 16 attack attempts, the Beavers had eight kills and only two errors for a match-high .375 attacking percentage, which stands as BSU’s best set of the season.

Four players netted dig totals of at least ten led by DeJong. Volkmann and Amanda Tronick (OH, 6-1, Fr., Hutchinson, Minn.) each posted double doubles in the match with Volkmann posting 45 assists to go with 11 digs and Tronick netting a career-high 13 digs and 11 kills.

“The whole team defense really stepped up big for us,” said Chadwick. “From blocking to digging, we played a very well-rounded, defensive game.”

The BSU volleyball team will return to action on Sept. 14 to close out the tournament in Marquette, Mich. The Beavers will open the final day of play battling Michigan Technological University at 8 a.m. and complete action versus Lake Superior State University at 2 p.m.