Posted: Aug 27, 2011
LA MIRADA, Calif. -- The Bruins squandered leads in the fourth and fifth sets as Vanguard University pulled out a dramatic 3-2 (27-25, 13-15, 20-25, 27-25, 15-13) win over Bellevue University in BU's first match Saturday at the Biola University/Holiday Inn Summer Slam.
The Bruins, ranked 16th nationally, fell to 1-2 on the season while Vanguard improved to 3-3 overall.
Bellevue was led by freshman outside hitter Sunny Bell, who pounded 17 kills, while adding four digs and three blocks. Senior middle blocker Maureen Wardian and sophomore outside hitter Annie Benson collected 11 kills apiece. Wardian hit .308 and added four blocks.
Junior setter Jordan Broady registered her second double-double of the tournament with 46 assists and 13 digs to go along with six kills and three blocks, while directing the BU offense to a .279 hitting percentage.
Sophomore Meghan Evans tied Broady with 13 digs, while freshman Niki Gregory and senior Ashley Wurdeman chipped in 12 digs apiece, as the BU defense held Vanguard to a .207 attack percentage for the match.
Sophomore Sydney DeBoer hit .462 with seven kills and one error in 13 attempts and was the match's blocking leader with five block assists.
Jamie Heenan (28) and Stevie Hurlbirt (21) combined for 49 kills to pace the Lion attack.
Bellevue fought back from a 23-19 deficit in the opening set, tying the game at 23-all on a Wardian kill and three-straight Lion hitting errors. Both teams exchanged points until two-straight kills by Heenan gave VU the opener, 27-25.
The Bruins held Vanguard to a .000 hitting clip in the second frame and went on a 19-7 scoring run to cruise to the 25-13 win.
Broady, Benson, and Wardian all collected three kills in the third as the Bruins hit .321 and closed the set on a 6-2 scoring run.
Neither team could establish control in the fourth where the largest lead was three points by either team. Consecutive kills by Bell and another from Wurdeman gave the Bruins match point at 25-24. However, Heenan responded with three-straight kills to give the Lions the 27-25 win.
Three kills by Bell in the fifth set sparked a 4-1 Bruin run as Bellevue built an 11-8 lead. Vanguard capitalized, however, on two Bell attack errors, a service ace, and a kill by Hurlbirt to surge ahead 13-11. After the two team's exchanged kills, Heenan closed out the match with her 28th kill to give the Lions' the five-set win.
The match marked Vanguard's third-straight five-set match of the tournament.
The Bruins will conclude the tournament with a 6 p.m. match tonight against 10th-ranked College of Idaho.
