Knights cruise past Viterbo

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- After a tough weekend at the Gustavus Adolphus College Invite Friday and Saturday in which it went 1-2, the Martin Luther College volleyball team and middle hitter Katie Bertolus may have got the shot in the arm they needed Tuesday.

Bertolus demonstrated a strong hitting attack along with the rest of the Knights front line as they cruised past the Viterbo 30-19, 30-18, 30-27 at the MLC gym.

Bertolus, a sophomore, said it was playing in front of the home crowd that got her going.

"Definitely," Katie Bertolus said. "It felt good to have people cheering me on and it helped me just get pumped up."

"To be honest, of our eight matches, this is by far her best match," coach Drew Buck said. "I don't know if it took a home match, but she kept the ball up front -- she's been keeping it in a little bit deep. She actually had some power to the ball so that's good to see. Hopefully of things to come."

Bertolus finished the match with six kills and six ace blocks. She credited the passing game and said it helped the front row to a strong match.

"Our passing game was definitely huge and helped the front row tremendously," Katie Bertolus said. "That just keeps us going."

Rachel Meyer led MLC with 11 kills and six ace blocks, despite the fact that the V-Hawks paid a lot of attention to stopping her.

"They were blocking her well," Drew Buck said. "I don't know if she made some adjustments. We saw them this weekend at Gustavus, so I think that flustered her a little bit. She'll come back and she'll have good games for us."

Beth Bertolus, Katie's older sister, had five kills. Katie said that playing alongside her sister has really helped her game and she enjoys having her as a teammate.

"I definitely like playing with my sister," Katie Bertolus said. "I played with her in high school, so it's just great having her on the team, because we both encourage each other and we know what's going on."

Emily Buck had seven kills, 35 set assists, and two ace serves. Libero Bethany Bauer also had 16 digs and her coach was happy the way she played in the back row.

"Her passes were really well tonight," Drew Buck said. "We've been working really hard [on passing]. This past weekend it wasn't one of our strong points."

The Knights got off to a quick start in the first game and led 6-2 on Katie Bertolus's tip. Later, Beth Bertolus had a kill and caught the Viterbo defense off guard with another tip. Drew Buck said he was pleased with the way the Knights mixed up their attack.

"I think what we did well tonight was when we didn't have a swing, we were able to tip efficiently, and at least make them scramble," Drew Buck said. "When we get swings, I want them to swing, but at the same time, I want them to know what to do if it's not there."

"They were giving us a lot of line early, and we did miss a few of them, but at least we were aggressive with our attacks I thought," he said.

In the second game, the V-Hawks were close until Tiffany Wendt's ace block put the Knights up 13-8. Rachel Meyer's kill made it 26-18 and MLC won 30-18.

Viterbo made the third game more difficult for the Knights, but Meyer's block late in the game gave MLC a 27-25 lead, and Meyer's kill ended the match 30-27.

MLC (3-5) is at the Ripon Invitational Friday and Saturday.

Jeremy Behnke can be reached at jbehnke@nujournal.com.