ST. PAUL - The Martin Luther College volleyball team split its Saturday doubleheader in the cities, dropping the first match 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-19, 25-14) to Buena Vista at Hamline, but defeating Whitman College 3-1 (12-25, 27-25, 25-21, 25-21) to close the day at St. Catherine.

BVU 3, MLC 1

MLC took a set from Buena Vista University (BVU), but fell short in a 3-1 defeat Saturday morning.

After losing the first set 25-14, the Knights came back from a late deficit to take the second game 25-23.

The Beavers took control from there, however, as they hit .295 in the third set and .448 in the fourth on the way to the win.

Kelsey Birschbach led the Knights on the attack with 13 kills to go with 13 digs. Kate Aswege led MLC with 20 digs

MLC 3, Whitman 1

The Knights shook off a bad opening set to score their first win of the season in the second match against Whitman.

MLC dropped the opening game 25-12, but saved a pair of set points on the way to a 27-25 second-set win to tie the match at one.

The Knights never looked back from there as they finished each of the next two sets strong to win the match.

Abigail Winkel played well for the Knights in the middle, tying Birschbach for the team lead with 11 kills while also recording a team-high five blocks. 

Hannah Willems also made her presence known in the middle with four blocks (including two solo blocks), while Aswege once again led the team with 24 digs. 

MLC moved to 1-6 on the season following the split. The Knights will return to action on Tuesday, September 14, when they travel to St. Catherine for a match scheduled to start at 7 p.m.