STORM LAKE, Iowa – Nebraska Wesleyan jumped out to a huge early lead and had a set point opportunity in the third set, but in the end 3^rd-seeded Buena Vista fought back to defeat the 6^th-seeded Prairie Wolves, 3-0, on Tuesday night in the opening round of the IIAC Postseason Volleyball Tournament.
 
BVU won the three sets in scores of 26-24, 25-18, 28-26 and will advance to the IIAC Tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Nebraska Wesleyan ends their season with a 11-17 overall record.
 
NWU looked poised to end the Beavers 10-match winning streak early as they came out firing from the first serve.  The Prairie Wolves scored the first six points of the match to take an early 6-0 lead.  They continued to build on the lead and got up by as many as eight points with a 15-7 advantage in control to take the first set.
 
That comfortable lead did not last long as BVU started to gain momentum.  BVU went on a 10-3 run and tied the match at 17-17 after an NWU hitting error.  The Prairie Wolves regained the lead and held onto it up to a 23-22 advantage needing two points to take the set.  A Beaver kill and Prairie Wolves error gave BVU set point, but Hannah Bellinghausen kept the match alive with a kill of her own to tie it at 24-24.  Buena Vista was able to score the next two points to earn the 26-24 win.
 
Set two was a dominating effort by Buena Vista.  With the set tied at 6-6, BVU then went on a 13-3 run to hold a 19-9 lead and they would cruise to the win.
 
NWU did not let the disadvantage deflate them as they battled to keep their season alive in the third set.
 
By far the most competitive set was the third one.  The set was tied 10 times and the lead was switched seven different times in the long third set.
 
The Prairie Wolves trailed 10-7 early but scored three unanswered to tie it at 10-10 then would eventually build up a 18-14 lead on a kill from Sarah Oldfather.  The lead was maintained all the way up to 23-22, but just like the first set BVU turned it on at the end.  Jamie Navinskey got a kill and Jade Schaap had a service ace setting up match point for the Beavers at 24-23.  Needing a point to stay alive, Cora Svoboda and Kylie Sestak blocked the Beavers at the net.  Oldfather and Svoboda gave the Prairie Wolves set point as they joined together for a block on the next point making it 25-24.  BVU got a kill to tie it at 25-25, but the Beavers then had a service error giving NWU their second set point.  An NWU error and BVU block quickly switched things around then Jade Schaap closed the match with a kill to give the Beavers the win.
 
Schaap led BVU with 16 kills and a .293 hitting percentage as Buena Vista finished with 44 kills.
 
NWU had 36 kills in the match and hit only .085 as a team.  Hannah Bellinghausen led the way with 11 kills on the night.  Sidney Mell had seven kills and tied for the team lead with 13 digs in her final collegiate match.  Anna Gottsch dished out 17 assists.