"It was a typical first match," said head coach Nathalea Stephenson. "I thought we blocked better than last year, but I think we need to do a better job serving and passing the ball."

Bethany started off their season in fine fashion with a clean sweep of Central Christian. The squad had a rough first game before cleaning it up in game two, and then falling into a slump game three. However, the Swedes rolled to a 25-18, 25-6, 25-18 victory.

"Tonight, being the first game, I think some players had the jitters," said junior April Roble, Schofield, Wis. "We have a great team, but just need to work on our uniformity as a team. But for opening night, we're happy with a win."

Labor Day Weekend sent the Swedes to the College of the Ozarks tournament. In their first match on Friday, Bethany fell in a tight match to Park University, with scores of 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 22-25, 7-15.

"It was a little disappointing, after winning the first two sets and then losing the next three" said head coach Nathalea Stephenson. "We came out really strong, and blocked well, but then we let down and sat back on our heels."

The Swedes then suffered a sweep by Oklahoma Baptist University, losing 22-25, 14-25, 20-25. Hoping to turn things around on Saturday, the squad was unable to do so as they lost 3-0 to John Brown University. The scores were 11-25, 19-25, 17-25.

"Against OBU, we were really let down from the loss to Park," Stephenson said. "OBU and JBU are very good teams who have been receiving national votes. We were not as aggressive at the net as we needed to be, and our blocking let down."

In the final match of the tournament, Bethany faced Lyon College. The Swedes were not able to muster up another "W" as they fell 20-25, 23-25 25-23, 24-26. "We did some things well, and our blocking came back," said Stephenson. "But we were still not as aggressive at the net hitting wise. We had a lot of roll shots."

"We are disappointed, as I had hoped to at least go 2-2 on the weekend," Stephenson continued. "But we will come back, and get prepared for our first conference match."

The Swedes are now 1-4 in their 2009 efforts. They will be back in action Wednesday, September 9 at 7 p.m. at the University of St. Mary for their first conference match. The squad will then head to Hastings College for a tournament Friday and Saturday, September 11-12. Friday, the Swedes will face Peru State College at 2 and College of the Ozarks at 7. Saturday brings Briar Cliff University at 11:30 a.m. and Hastings College at 7 p.m. At the Hastings tournament, Bethany will again be facing some nationally ranked teams.

"Playing these ranked teams will hopefully keep preparing us for conference," Stephenson said. "Also by playing ranked teams, it shows us how we need to be playing to get to the national level."