"We didn't block as well as we have been," said head coach Nathalea Stephenson. "I think we let the crowd bother us a bit, and our setters came back from injuries. We were out of sync."

Senior Kristi Parker led with 16 kills and a .406 hitting percentage, with fellow senior Serah Pele-Lafo adding 12 kills and three serving aces. Senior Katy Troutman had 23 digs while freshman Sam Anderson contributed 18 and sophomore Catherine Spicer tacked on 11. Senior Megan Wendell tallied 24 assists with freshman Theresa Read adding 14. Parker chalked up six assisted blocks while Pele-Lafo had three unassisted and two assisted.

"The girls were disappointed," Stephenson said. "We felt we should have beat them."

Looking to chalk up their second conference victory, Bethany hosted their first KCAC match Thursday night as they took on foe Southwestern College. Thanks to better blocking, the Swedes swept Southwestern 25-22, 25-22, 25-23.

"We handled their NCAA division II transfer, Kara Robeson, well," Stephenson said. "I felt like we made her changes things up, and we did a good job picking up her rolls and tips."

Pele-Lafo led with 11 kills, followed by Anderson with nine and Parker with eight. Troutman had an impressive 22 digs while Wendell chalked up 22 assists and 11 digs. Senior Carrie DeRoo had five assisted blocks.

The Swedes headed to Bacone College for a Saturday evening non-conference showdown. Bethany was able to make it two "W's" in a row as they rolled to a 25-15, 25-18, 25-10 sweep.

"We played different people, and they stepped up and did a nice job," said Stephenson. "There were some scoring issues, making it hard to get into a rhythm."

Pele-Lafo racked up 12 kills while Parker added ten. Read led with 12 assists while Wendell had ten assists and two serving aces. Wendell also headed Bethany with nine digs and three assisted blocks.

Bethany is now 2-1 in the KCAC, putting them in fifth place, and 4-9 overall. The squad hosts McPherson College on Wednesday, September 23 at 7 p.m. before heading to the Bellevue tournament on Friday and Saturday, September 25-26.

"Next week will be tough, as McPherson travels well," said Stephenson. "I am looking forward to a big crowd. At Nebraska next weekend, every team we play is ranked in at least the top 20. We need to bring our game to play, but it will be good experience."