ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – Nicole Banitt and Catherine Moore had a match-high 16 kills apiece, but Bethel University rallied from two sets to one down to defeat the St. Olaf College volleyball team in five sets (25-21, 20-25, 25-27, 25-17, 15-8) on Tuesday evening at Robertson Center.

After dropping the first set, St. Olaf (1-1) won the next two, including a 27-25 third set, to take the lead, but Bethel (4-1) fought back to take the match in five sets. The Royals hit .533 in the decisive fifth set, compared to .125 for the Oles.

Banitt had 16 kills on 29 swings to hit .483 and added four block assists and three digs for St. Olaf, while Moore had 16 kills and hit .289 on the outside. Katelyn Lannom (14), Summer Reid (12), and Morgan Marxer (10) also had double-digit kills in the match, as Lexi Wall totaled 56 assists and a career-high 26 digs.

Reid and Selena Rodriguez joined Wall with double-doubles. Reid added 12 digs to her 12 kills, while Rodriguez had 25 digs and 10 assists. Kylie Reardon (13) and Brynne Gray (12) also reached double figures in digs as St. Olaf totaled 93 as a team.

Bethel broke a 16-16 tie in the first set by winning five points in a row and held on to take the opener. Trailing 23-17, the Oles closed the gap to three, 24-21, by winning three-straight points before the Royals finished off the set.

Similarly, the second set was tied at 13-13 midway through before St. Olaf gradually took control. Lannom had two kills to start a stretch where the Oles won five-of-seven points to take an 18-15 lead and Marxer had a couple of late kills to give the set to St. Olaf, 25-20.

Back-to-back kills by Moore put the Oles ahead 16-8 in set three, but the Royals battled back to tie the set at 23-23 with a 4-0 run. Bethel saved two set points to tie the set at 24-24 and 25-25 before an attack error by the Royals and a Lannom kill sent St. Olaf to the fourth set with a 2-1 lead.

Bethel took charge of the fourth set with a 7-0 run after the score was tied at 7-7 and led by at least five the rest of the way. In the decider, the Royals won five points in a row to go up 8-3 and, after the Oles got within 10-7, won five of the final six points to close out the match.

Five Royals were in double figures in kills, led by Allie Fauth with 15 kills and 14 digs. Danielle Friedges had a team-high 19 digs to go with 12 kills for the Royals, who hit .270 in the match.

St. Olaf hosts Saint Mary's University (Minn.) on Friday, April 30 at 5 p.m. on Senior Night.