Friday night, I got a night all to myself for, like, the first time ever. It was magical. I watched a great volleyball game, took a shower, cracked open a “Choke” (cherry Coke) Zero and played “Captain Phillips” on Netflix. Tom Hanks is amazing.
I don’t know why I told you that; I guess to tell you it’s O.K. to spend time by yourself, although I didn’t have a choice. Thanks, leadership retreat.
But time to myself was a win, and it wasn’t the only win that happened over the weekend. Let’s take a look.
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Football (9-0, 8-0): Complete win clinches NCAA tournament appearance
I think the most effective way to describe the domination and completeness of the Royals performance in a 49-7 win over Carleton College is through some statistics.
Bethel outgained Carleton in total yards 650-79. 32 of those 79 yards came on the Knights’ lone touchdown drive in the first quarter to put them up 7-0 early. Carleton totaled five yards in the second half.
Junior Bethel receiver Albert Rundell caught 21 passes. I need to say that again for those of you who zone out while reading me. Rundell caught TWENTY-ONE passes Saturday. That surpassed a MIAC record of 20 held by a pair of Augsburg receivers who played seven years apart. The craziest part is both of those Augsburg players were competing against Carleton, just like this new record.
Junior quarterback Cooper Drews threw six touchdown passes, and Rundell caught five of them, which tied a MIAC record.
I was certain the legendary “Jumpball” Joey Kidder graduated last year, but as I sat on the 50-yard line, freezing on the metal bleachers, I started to doubt. Rundell possesses an extraordinary ability to adjust in the air to whatever balls Drews throws him, to beat defenders in grabbing the pass out of the air. You simply have to watch him make these Randy Moss-esque catches over a defender’s back.
This athleticism looked contagious, too, as Drews’ other touchdown pass went to the back-right corner of the end zone in the third quarter. Sophomore receiver Teagan Viebrock put all of his legs and arms into his leap and barely got a foot down in bounds while holding onto the ball for the score.
Originally, I was excited to see this game between the two best quarterbacks in the conference – Drews and Carleton’s Jack Curtis, who is actively undergoing chemotherapy for Stage II Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leads the conference in passing yards.
And it looked promising when Curtis led a two-play drive in the middle of the first quarter to give the Knights a 7-0 lead. But the final score basically says the rest; Bethel scored 49 unanswered in its most complete game, offensively and defensively, following that Carleton score.
Unfortunately, this came at the cost of a quarterback shootout. Curtis came out of the game for an unspecified reason shortly after the Knights’ touchdown drive, and backup Tyler Mastronardi did very little to improve Carleton’s odds.
The loss gives Carleton its second loss of the season, meaning Bethel clinched at least a share of the conference title with Saint John’s, as well as the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament following next week’s regular season finale.
If Bethel goes to Duluth and beats St. Scholastica next week, the Royals will claim sole ownership of the 2025 MIAC title.
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Volleyball (14-10, 7-4): Emphatic win ends two-game skid
Bethel looked guaranteed to host a playoff game right before its Nov. 1 match at Saint Mary’s University. But in just four days, certainty vanished. Even after the Royals lost in five sets to the Cardinals, every opportunity still existed for Bethel to seize the third seed in the MIAC playoffs.
But a three-set dismantling by the College of St. Benedict – where the Bennies beat the Royals in hitting percentage .294 to .095, as well as kills 44-28 – sent all those hopes careening down and abandoned on I-694.
The team needed a mental boost before its final regular-season game – senior night.
“The message was, ‘don’t treat the experience as ordinary, the time we get in the gym,’” Bethel head coach Gretchen Hunt said. “If we treat every day like it’s special and it’s sacred, then we want to hold on to it as long as possible.”
Enter St. Catherine University Saturday evening for 2025’s regular season finale. Both the Royals and the Wildcats entered the contest at 6-4 in the MIAC and at fourth and fifth place, respectively. This meant the winner of Saturday’s contest would host the other for the first round of the MIAC playoffs Tuesday night.
Fighting against a poorly-timed, unexpected two-game skid, the Royals took a sweep victory (25-18, 25-20, 25-18) over the Wildcats to secure the fourth seed and a home playoff game.
As always, junior middle blocker Peyton Howie stole the show to lead the Royals to the emphatic win. She finished with 19 kills on a .415 hitting percentage, seven digs and a service ace.
“She’s the best player in the MIAC,” Hunt said.
It looked like Bethel’s most complete game of the season. The team’s 47 kills bested St. Catherine’s 36, and Bethel took advantage of the Wildcats’ 23 combined attack and service errors.
As St. Catherine sent Bethel free ball after free ball, the Wildcats began looking flustered. It was nice to see Bethel dominate again after the losses the Royals took against Gustavus Adolphus College and Saint Mary’s.
Howie explained the Royals’ mentality behind taking advantage of the Wildcats’ mistakes.
“Really putting your foot down and being like, ‘Okay, you’re gonna give us an easy ball. We’re gonna come back hard and really amp up that pressure,’” Howie said.
The Royals have the chance to continue flustering the Wildcats this week. Tuesday night features a playoff rematch from last year when St. Catherine upset Bethel in five sets in the MIAC semi-final.
The match is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday.
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Men’s basketball (1-0, 0-0): Season-opening win begins new era
I wrote last week that it would be fun to have all the winter sports start undefeated. Bethel men’s basketball must’ve heard me.
The Royals went to North Central University Saturday and came out with an all-too-familiar one-score victory: 89-86.
The win marked the beginning of the Gabe Miller era in men’s basketball and ended a three-game losing streak in season openers over the last three years. Bethel’s veterans led the way in the win as redshirt junior Nick Burke put up 24 points on 7-for-12 shooting.
Senior Adam Mattes added 19, and junior A.J. Kaul gave the Royals 18.
Despite letting the Rams nearly double them in the points in the paint, the Royals took advantage of an efficient shooting performance with 63% from the floor and 52% from three-point land.
The Royals’ next game comes Friday at home against Augustana College (Ill.). Tune in and catch me on the livestream as a sideline reporter.
Women’s basketball played an exhibition game Saturday at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, but once their regular season games begin, I’ll start regular coverage.. The Royals open their season Wednesday at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
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Men’s hockey (2-1-0, 0-0-0): Split weekend highlighted by hat trick
Bethel men’s hockey began the weekend by upsetting the No. 15-ranked University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Friday 4-0. Seniors Austin Ryman and Tyler Braccini led the way for Bethel.
Ryman, a goalkeeper, faced 36 shots and saved all of them in the shutout, while Braccini, a forward, scored a hat trick to lead the scoring. It’s the second straight weekend Bethel has produced a hat trick in men’s hockey.
Then the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire came to the National Sports Center in Blaine and took a 2-0 win over Bethel Saturday.
Bear with me this season; no C.J. means I’m working hard on learning hockey, so we’ll get better. At least I know what a hat trick is.
The Royals play next weekend at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
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Make sure you have your coats, guys. Winter is coming. If it’s a Columbia one, make sure you put your shell and jacket together. Football is gonna be playing for a while, so you’ll need it.
Until next time, go watch your sisters’ high school musical, get a McRib (might’ve buried the lead with this one. Yeah, it’s back.) and watch that movie you’ve been meaning to watch for a while. You don’t have to wait for your friends.
Love y’all.
