ST. PAUL, Minn. – The UW-Stevens Point volleyball team (1-0) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to knock off No. 20 Bethel (0-1) in five sets (22-25, 25-17, 17-25, 25-13, 15-13) in the season opener on Friday at the Kathryn Pals Legacy Invitational.
 
Ashley Kopp (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) recorded her first-double of the year with 10 kills and 10 digs. Freshman Katie Larson (Hammond, Wis./St. Croix Central) also added 10 kills to tie for the team lead.
 
Grace Michalske (Wausau, Wis./West) had a game-high 30 assists and Emma Peterson (Bloomington, Minn./Thomas Jefferson) led all players with 17 digs. Katie Albrecht (West Bend, Wis./East) was also in double figures with 10 digs. Kopp led all players with four aces.
 
The season began with Grace Regnier (Antioch, Ill./Antioch Community) knocking down a pair of kills for UWSP's first two points. Kopp and Megan Schroder (Merrill, Wis./Merrill) had consecutive kills to spark a 4-0 run to put UWSP up 7-4. Later in the set, Schroder had three kills in consecutive UWSP points for an 18-17 edge. Bethel took seven of the final 11 points to take the first set.
 
Larson walloped a kill to even the second set at 10-10 as the Pointers went on a 10-4 run. A Michalske ace late helped UWSP end the set on a 6-1 run with Regnier and Schroder combining on a set-clinching block.
 
Kills by Larson and Kopp were the only offense early in the third set as UWSP fell behind 12-5. Sydney Mosinski (Nevada, Iowa/Nevada) had an ace and a kill, but UWSP trailed throughout as Bethel took a 2-1 lead.
 
Sophia Lee (Lake Mills, Wis./Lake Mills) had two kills and two blocks as UWSP started the fourth set with a 7-2 advantage. Kopp had two service aces late as the Pointers used an 8-0 run to send the match to a fifth set.
 
Kills by Michalske and Kopp gave UWSP brief two-point leads in a seesaw fifth set. The Royals lurched in front with a 4-0 run to close to within two points of a match victory. The Pointers reeled off the final four points with a Larson kill in the middle to secure the match win.
 
The Pointers close out the weekend with matches against Coe at 11:00 a.m. and host Northwestern at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday (Sept. 3).