NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College volleyball team battled Buena Vista University (BVU) back and forth in Wednesday's 2021 season opener, but fell 3-0 by the scores of 25-23, 26-24 and 25-18.

The Knights started strong out of the gates and built a 22-17 lead in the first set following a kill by Rhianna Hunter, but the Beavers stormed all the way back by scoring eight of the next nine points to win 25-23 and take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The tables nearly turned in the second set, where BVU held a commanding 23-17 lead before MLC scored seven straight points to take a 24-23 lead late in the game. The Beavers would come back, however, and scored the final three points of the set to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match on the way to the 3-0 sweep.

Kelsey Birschbach led MLC with nine kills in the match, while Hannah Willems (seven kills, .500 attack percentage) and Lauren Paulsen (five kills, .800 attack percentage) also had strong nights on the attack.

Kylie Wolf led the Knights with 16 assists. Kate Aswege led all players with 14 digs, helping her move into ninth place in program history with 1,035 digs for her career. 

MLC fell to 0-1 on the season in defeat. BVU improved to 1-0 with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday, September 4, when they host Nebraska Wesleyan in a match scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m.