ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – It took the Carleton College volleyball team a little while to get going tonight, but they eventually put together a 3-1 victory at Bethel University. Senior libero Laura Barsness (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) matched her career best with 34 digs as the Knights (9-3, 2-1 MIAC) recorded their fifth straight victory and seventh in the last eight matches.
Barness’ dig total was her highest ever in a four-set match. She twice recorded 34-dig performances as a sophomore, but both of those came in five-set contests.
“We started off really slow, but I’m proud of the way the girls turned things around and took control,” said Carleton head coach Heidi Jaynes.
With a match-high 19 kills tonight, Kelly Lovett (Jr./Portland, Ore./Lincoln) paced the Carleton attack for the 11th time this season. She also contributed 12 digs and had a hand in seven blocks.
She was not alone in filling up the stat sheet as middle hitters Annie Eckhoff (Sr./Northfield, Minn.) and Jessa Youso (Fy./Virginia, Minn.) combined for 17 kills and had a part in 13 blocks. Right-side attacker Sarah Halls (Sr./Edina, Minn.) finished with eight kills, eight digs, and three blocks.
Beth Jarrett (Jr./Mounds View, Minn./Irondale) doled out 37 assists tonight and chipped in nine digs as the Knights matched their season best by bringing up 77 attacks.
“Annie Eckhoff and Sarah Halls did a great job shifting the momentum in our favor,” Jaynes said, “and I can’t say enough good things about Laura’s effort on defense tonight.”
Carleton fell behind 6-0 to open the match and was unable to complete the comeback, dropping the first set, 25-22.
The second set went back-and-forth featuring 13 ties and seven lead changes. Bethel appeared to be closing in on a two sets-to-none advantage as the Royals built a 23-21 lead late. Lovett had two kills as Carleton closed with a 4-0 run, tying the match at one set.
In the third set, the Knights jumped all over the Royals and built a 10-3 lead. Carleton extended the margin to 11 points and cruised to the 25-14 win. The fourth set resulted in the same final score, with the Knights closing out the match on a 17-7 burst.
Carleton hit only .029 in dropping the first set, but the visitors slowly got things straightened out after that. Carleton posted a .243 hitting percentage over the balance of the evening, including an impressive .318 mark in the final two sets.
Just as they did against Gustavus earlier this week, the Knights blocking became a potent weapon as Carleton accumulated 15 points off rejections and limited the Royals to a .043 attack percentage for the match.
The Royals’ Nicole Wriedt totaled 14 kills and was the lone Bethel player to reach double-figures in that category.
While they can take off the rest of the weekend, the Knights have a busy week ahead as they travel to Saint Mary’s University on Wed., September 30 before participating in the MIAC-IIAC Border Battle on October 2-3.
