Bemidji State Women’s Volleyball 8-0, Third Best Start In Program History

Some say perfection isn’t attainable, but that if you chase perfection, you can catch excellence.

BSU Women’s Volleyball has managed to do both so far season, sporting a perfect 8-0 record. It’s their best start since 1988 when they won their 14 contests to begin that year, and is third behind  their only perfect season in 1971 when they went 10-0.

But the Beavers aren’t just winning, they’re dominating, having won 18 straight sets dating back to August 29th and only dropping 4-sets thus far this season. It’s a massive turnaround for a program thats only won 8-or-more matches in a season twice in the last 14 years.

“It feels good to see the work we’ve put in finally kind of translate on the scoresheet,” said senior hitter Ava Athman. “I think we’ve been working hard through all the adversity of these three years and it’s just nice to see that pay off.”

“We keep saying we want to play Beaver volleyball,” she continued. “Kind of focusing on ourselves and what we know we can do. And that’s translating into the score, obviously, but we’re trying to just stay calm and not not worry about the score too much. Just do what we know how to do.”

The 8-0 start is also the best in program history by a first year head coach. Hahni Johnson, who made the jump from assistant to interim after former head coach Erika Bute departed for Augustana in late June, has not tasted defeat at the helm for Bemidji State.

“We were set up for success with the spring that we had with our previous head coach,” said Johnson. “And then these girls I think, have responded very well and they’re working really hard for the program and not just for me, but for each other especially. And I think that’s what makes a difference right now.”

“I would say on the court our biggest thing is our serve and pass game and then our decision making,” she added. “That was something last year we really wanted to grow in. We just had a very young team. And so this year people are a little older, more experienced, and having good decisions on the court has gone a long way for us.”

Bemidji State begins NSIC play this Friday with a trip to Minot, N.D. for the battle of the Beavers before heading to Bismarck, N.D. to take on UMary, who the Beavers already beat this season in what was their closest match to date, going the full 5-sets.

“We’re just very focused on one match at a time,” Johnson said. “Not looking too far ahead, not looking behind at what we just did. We’re focused on this next game.”

“There’s a lot of ranked teams through the conference season,” added Athman. “I’m excited because those games get really competitive and it’s a fun environment to play in. And we’re really lucky to play in one of the best Division II conferences in the country and I’m grateful to be a part of that.”