The women's volleyball team started the season off in a nail biting match against Ottawa-AZ. The Redhawks went to five sets with the Spirit, 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 17-15. 

The match saw 45 ties and 23 lead changes. BenU finished with a 53-51 advantage kills, but the Spirit used 74 digs and 11 blocks to hold the Redhawks to .132 hitting. Each team hit negative in the fifth set, with BenU struggling at -.027 adn OUAZ at -.029.

The Redhawks came back from 9-2 point deficit in the fifth set from a combination of kills from senior Brianna Rivera, sophomore Kylie Bartel and a few hitting errors from the Spirit. The final set ended on a service error from the Redhawks. The service game was a massive factor in the match, with the Spirit holding an 11-8 edge in aces. Each team had 20 missed serves.

Freshman Laylah Daniel started her career as a Redhawk cementing her name in the BenU record books. Daniel had 26 kills which amounted for about half the teams total kills of 53. She finished with a .375 hitting percentage. Daniel also tallied 8 digs to and 1 block to help the Redhawks defense.

Brianna Rivera and Kylie Bartel both ended the match with double digit kills going 12 and 10, respectively. Haley Rivera led the Redhawks defese with 15 digs. Brianna Rivera finished with 13 digs while Bartel had 11 digs. Annabelle Somoza was a key play maker for the Redhawks as she finished with 30 assists and 12 digs in five sets. Bartel also showed her versatility on the court tallying 16 assists for the Redhawks.

The Redhawks will get back on the court on August 26-27 at the Hope Invitational in Fullerton, Calif.

Hope Invitational Schedule
Friday, August 26
vs. Vanguard - 10:00am
vs. Hope International - 4:00pm

Saturday, August 27
vs. Northwest University - 8:00am
vs. Evergreen State - 3:30pm