Bemidji, Minn. – The (RV) University of Jamestown women's volleyball team played a 10-0 Bemidji State team but came out on top in three of the four sets for a 3-1 road victory Friday night in the Minnesota Northwoods.
Jamestown moves to 10-1 and 3-0 in the NSIC ahead of a big test against No. 23 Minnesota Duluth Saturday. Bemidji State, which entered play as one of seven undefeated teams in Division-II volleyball, took their first loss of the season and moved to 10-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
The beginning of Jamestown's first NSIC road match did not go as planned with Bemidji State starting out with an 8-1 lead. After this though, the Jimmies went on multiple mini scoring runs and an extended 13-5 run a bit later when
Mya Foslien and
Charlotte Lempka each had three kills and UJ was suddenly ahead 17-15.
Kate Wiebesiek added a kill to push Jamestown ahead 21-18, but the Beavers scored four of the next five points to tie it up at 22-22. The sides exchanged points for a while and the set headed into extra points with the score knotted up at 24.
Gracie Adamson had a big kill to get the Jimmies to 25, then a Bemidji State attacking error put the set away at 26-24 in a thriller to begin the night.
The Jimmies hit significantly better in the first set at .286 (18-2-56) to the Beavers .170 (15-6-53), but four service errors from the road team nearly cost them in set number one.
Jamestown fell behind early again in set number two, but this time could not recover. After the Beavers got out in front 5-1, the rest of the set was nearly even.
Ava Bertsch had a service ace to push Jamestown to only a 14-10 deficit, but the Jimmies never got closer than four points the rest of the set.
Kyleigh Schopp had a couple of kills, and Adamson had a kill plus an ace after this, but too many attacking errors sent the Jimmies to a 25-18 defeat in the second set. Bemidji State had a .158 attacking percentage in the set (10-4-38) while the Jimmies struggled at .040 (8-6-50). The Beavers had three blocks as well with UJ empty in that category.
The third set saw the two squads going neck-and-neck until three straight points including a kill by
Caroline Puetz gave Jamestown an 11-8 edge. The Jimmies clinged onto their lead for almost the rest of the way, but never by more than a few points.
Kyleigh Schopp had a kill to make the set 24-22, but then Bemidji State rattled off three straight points and what looked to be a set win for the Jimmies turned into a dire circumstance in a critical set number three. Head coach
Jon Hegerle called a timeout to regroup and after that, a Beavers service error helped the Jimmies out by tying the set at 25-25. Follwing this,
Mya Foslien had a huge block as UJ regained the lead, and Foslien was not done yet either. Wiebesiek connected with the sophomore outside hitter and Foslien put down the set point with a kill as UJ went up 2-1 in the match with a 27-25 set victory in the third set.
Bemidji State had a huge kills advantage in set three (20-9) but also committed 10 attacking errors and hit only slightly better at .196 (20-10-51) to .171 (9-3-35). Jamestown had five blocks to only one by the Beavers. Bemidji State gave UJ seven free points on service errors in the set.
Riding the big momentum up 2-1 in the match, the Jimmies started the fourth set ahead 8-1 after
Sophie Ketterling had back-to-back service aces. By no means though, did Jamestown run away with it as Bemidji State held an edge the next part of the set. The Beavers scored five unanswered to get the set in their favor at 14-13.
After this big run by the home team, Jamestown earned three straight points to pull ahead 16-14. It was 22-19 Jimmies, but another 3-0 run from Bemidji State made it 22-22 with Hegerle promptly using a timeout. With Jamestown looking to end the match, and the hosting Beavers hoping to avoid their first loss of the season, it was the Jimmies who wound up on top.
Kallyn Grove notched a kill, but Bemidji State responded with the next point and the game tied up again at 23. The Jimmies though, got points when it mattered the most just like they had been doing all match. Lempka was clutch with back-to-back kills as Jamestown handed the only remaining unbeaten team in the NSIC their first loss with a 25-23 set victory in the fourth set.
Foslien had a career-high and led all Jamestown players with 11 kills on .256 attacking (11-1-39). Adamson added nine kills and a career-best 22 digs. Lempka had nine kills and three blocks, while Ketterling anchored the Jimmies defense with 26 digs also posting three aces and three assists as well.
Momoka Minamiya had a season-best 23 digs and
Ava Bertsch led the setting duties with 19 assists to go along with eight digs.
As a team, Jamestown had 100 digs, by far their best of the season and a number not achieved since the 2024 season. The Beavers were even better with 114. Bemidji State had a very slight edge in attacking percentage at .153 (58-27-203) to Jamestown's .149 (46-17-194). UJ had a small advantage in both blocks (10-7) and service aces (7-6).
The Jimmies will next head over to Northeastern Minnesota for a matchup with the No. 23 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in their first test against a nationally ranked opponent on Saturday, September 19 at 1 p.m.
