NORTHFIELD, Minn. – In an electric environment at West Gym, the Carleton volleyball team captured a thrilling five-set win over Bethany Lutheran College on Wednesday night. 
 
The Knights came out to win the first two sets, before dropping the next two and coming back to capture the win in the fifth set.  Wednesday's home opener gave Carleton its first win of the season in dramatic fashion.
 
"Tonight was a team effort," said Head Coach Abby Walton.  "From our bench, to the starting six, and to the amazing turnout that we had.  It was a great environment, so shout out to our fans.  It was absolutely fantastic."
 
After Bethany Lutheran opened the first set with a 4-1 lead, Carleton responded by scoring 11 of the next 14 points to open up a 12-7 lead.  The run was highlighted by a pair of service aces from sophomore Madeleine Dimitre, who served six straight times to help give her team the cushion.  The Vikings came back to pull within two points (19-17), but the Knights slammed the door shut, scoring six of the final seven points of the opening frame to take a 1-0 lead.
 
It was more of the same in the second set, as a late run gave the Knights the boost they needed to take a 2-0 lead in the match.  Leading 14-12 midway through, the Maize and Blue stormed to the finish, scoring 11 of the final 13 points to take the set 25-14.  Dimitre added another ace, while senior Sylvia Dixon added a two of her team-high 15 kills in the stretch.
 
The Knights met adversity in the third and fourth sets.  Carleton fell behind 23-16 in the late stages of set three.  The home team rattled off a 6-1 run to climb back into it (24-22), but the Vikings ultimately put one more on the board to take the third 25-22. 
 
Carleton found itself facing another deficit late in the fourth set.  After leading 19-18, Bethany scored four of the next five points to hold a 22-20 advantage and held the inside track to the fourth set win, but the Knights would not go away.  After Bethany took a 24-22 lead, Carleton came back to regain the lead 25-24 before the visitors scored the final three points to close out the back-and-fourth come-from-behind win to tie the match and send it to a deciding fifth set.
 
After the Vikings won the toss and opened the fifth set with the serve, they scored the first two points of the frame before the Knights came back to tie things up 2-2.  The two teams traded blows through the early going.  Bethany was the first team to eight and the two teams traded sides with the visitors lead 8-7. 
 
From there, Carleton scored the next two points on a pair of kills from junior Rachel Bingham and sophomore Ellewyn Swafford to take a 9-8 lead.  But Bethany scored four of the next five points to gain a two-point edge (12-10) late.  Looking dire and in danger of giving up the reverse sweep, the Knights found their footing and surged to the finish. 
 
The crowd hit a fever pitch as the Knights rattled off four straight points, including a pair of kills by Dixon and an ace from Swafford to give Carleton a 14-12 lead.  The Vikings scored, but first-year Ella Goolsby finished things off with a kill to take the final set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
 
"I thought we put a really good fight in tonight," said senior Sylvia Dixon of the adversity her team faced on Wednesday night.  "There were some really tight moments, but I was proud of our team and how we came through it to finish it off in five."
 
Junior setter Megan Smith echoed her teammates sentiment, stating "Tonight we found our calm in the chaos.  We found moments to resettle, reconvene and play as one.  Everyone dug deep and even though we were all tired, we were fighting for each other and fighting to win.  Even though we lost those two in the middle, I'm really proud of the way we fought and came back to win the last one.  It all came together."
 
The two teams were nearly even in all statistical categories with the Knights holding the slight advantage in total points (73-68), kills (55-52), aces (8-7), blocks (10-9), assists (52-49), digs (66-53), and hitting percentage (.199-.128). 
 
Dixon led the way for the Knights with her 15 kills, while Ella Goolsby found her way to double-figure kills for the first time in her collegiate career with 12.  Rachel Bingham followed as the final Knight in double figures with 11.  Megan Smith put together an outstanding two-way performance, putting up a season-high 45 assists to go along with 14 digs and three blocks.  Her 45 assists are the third-highest total in her two-plus seasons in the Maize and Blue.
 
Senior libero Ella Curtis-Revelle registered 18 digs to anchor the back line, while Ellewyn Swafford matched a career-high with six blocks.  Madeleine Dimitre coupled her three aces at the service line with 10 digs to register her first double-figure dig match of the young season.
 
"Ultimately, tonight went well," summed up Head Coach Abby Walton.  "There were a lot of ebbs and flows to the match.  I think we are getting closer to what our goals are and finding that magical lineup for us."
 
Up Next for the Knights
The Knights will keep pursuing those goals on Friday night when they travel to Eau Claire, Wis., to compete in the two-day Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament.  Carleton will square off with Marian University at 5pm on Friday before playing Lakeland University and UW-Eau Claire on Saturday evening.