NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton volleyball team fell behind 0-2 to league-leading Bethel University before coming back to force a fifth set on Friday night at West Gym.  The Knights could not quite complete the reverse sweep, falling 15-13 in the final frame to suffer their seventh loss of the season (9-7, 1-2 MIAC).
 
Bethel took control of the opening set early, scoring the first three points of the match.  The Royals pushed their lead to 12-6 in the early going and later used a string of nine straight points to open up a 22-9 advantage.  The deficit proved too much to overcome for the home team in a 25-12 opening set win for Bethel.
 
The Royals scored four of the first six points in set two, but five unanswered points for the Knights gave the Maize and Blue a 7-4 edge as the momentum began to shift.  Carleton led 14-12 before Bethel regained the lead 15-14 with three consecutive points.  But the Knights responded with four straight points to take it right back 18-15.  Leading 21-18, Carleton appeared to have grabbed the momentum before the Royals rattled off five consecutive points and took a 23-21 lead.  The Knights got a big pair of points to tie the set 24-24, but Bethel closed out the frame with the final two points to take the frame 26-24 and grab a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The tide began to turn with the third set.  After Bethel led 8-6 in the early going, first-year Ellewyn Swafford gave Carleton the spark it needed with three straight aces from the serving line.  The string opened up what turned into a 7-0 run to give her team a 13-8 advantage.  The Royals responded with three straight points, but the Knights had the answer with three right back and held the visitors at arm's length the rest of the way to take the third set 25-20 and stay alive.
 
After the two teams matched each other through the first 10 points of the fourth set (5-5), the Knights used an 8-1 run to open up a seven-point advantage (13-6) midway through the frame.  Sophomore Rachel Bingham was the catalyst with three kills in the run and momentum was on the side of the host.  But the Royals aren't leading the MIAC for no reason.  The visitors responded with their own 8-1 run to tie the score once again 15-15.  From there, Carleton put together another run, this time a 7-1 spurt that proved to be the difference.  It gave the Knights a 24-18 lead as they held on from there to send the match to a fifth set with a 25-21 win.
 
With palpable energy now infused into West Gym, the home team had the Royals on the ropes early.  The Knights jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in the deciding set thanks to a pair of kills from junior Sylvia Dixon and an ace from fellow junior Isabel Macia.  But the Royals scored nine of the next 12 points to take an 11-8 lead.  Carleton battled back to tie the score 13-13 on back-to-back kills from Dixon, but the cushion Bethel had built proved too much to overcome as the visitors took the final set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
 
Dixon joined Bingham with a team-leading 14 kills.  Six of Dixon's kills came in the fifth set, while Bingham added a team-best five blocks.  Kerrigan Candra was the final Knight with double-figure kills.  She posted her fifth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 16 digs on the night.  Ellewyn Swafford added four aces and three blocks, while Isabel Macia recorded her second double-double of the year with a season-high 24 assists and a career-high 15 digs.  Megan Smith added 18 assists and first-year libero Madeleine Dimitre posted a team-high 24 digs.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will be back in action on Tuesday, Oct. 8 when it hosts Crown College for "Dig Pink Night" at West Gym.  That match is set for a 7pm start.