BELLEVUE, Neb. - The Bellevue University volleyball jumped out to a two sets to none lead and seemed well-positioned to climb back to .500 but it wasn't to be following a 3-2 (25-20, 25-19, 19-25, 13-25, 13-15) loss to Hastings College on Wednesday evening in an intra-state match-up at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. Bellevue (11-13) has now lost consecutive games following an impressive 11-match winning streak. Hastings, receiving votes in the latest Coaches' Poll, improves to 12-7 on the season.
The Bruins raced out to a big 19-9 advantage in the first set by the time Hastings ran out of timeouts. The Broncos were able to recover and pull within five at 22-17 before Bellevue was able to hang on for the 25-20 opening set victory. In the opening set, BU attacked at .440 as a team, with 13 kills and just two hitting errors led by sophomore LaJaida Even (Waverly, Iowa) with three kills on three attempts and freshman Gracie Myers (Treynor, Iowa) with three kills on seven attempts.
The second set followed a similar script with BU getting out to a solid 17-9 lead with the Broncos already having used both their timeouts. Hastings scored eight of the next 12 points to cut the deficit to 21-17 but it wasn't enough as Bellevue held on for the 25-19 victory and a commanding 2-0 advantage in the match.
Hastings exacted some revenge in the third set, jumping out to a 9-2 lead and looked to be in control of the set before Bellevue rallied. BU scored four of the next five to cut a 15-10 deficit to just two at 16-14. The Broncos were able to recover and held on for a 25-19 victory to force a fourth set.
By the time the fourth set rolled along the Broncos looked completely regrouped as they flew ahead to a 13-7 lead on their way to winning the set by a final count of 25-13 and forcing a decisive fifth set.
The fifth set went back and forth as the two clubs alternated the first five points and the score was 8-7 in favor of Hastings when the teams switched sides at the midway point. The Bruins won an exciting point to level things at 8-8 in a rally that featured a pair of diving digs to keep the rally alive. The set saw seven ties with the last of which occurring at 11-11 before Hastings was able to get enough separation for a 15-13 victory.
The Bruins were out-hit by the Broncos by a final tally of .246-.177 after hitting just .120 in the final four sets. Junior setter Beth Walker (Dubuque, Iowa) finished with a team-high 43 assists to go along with her seven digs and five kills (.500).
Junior Symone Faulkner (Denver, Col.), Even, and Myers all finished the match in double-digits with kills. Faulkner led the way with 12 and hit .385 while Even finished with 11 (.208) and Myers with 10 (.107). Freshman libero Taylor Holz (Omaha, Neb.) led the defensive effort with 14 digs while freshman Rachel Wald (Omaha, Neb.) added nine and Faulkner totaled five blocks (all assists).
Bellevue will return to the court this Friday and Saturday when then host the Bruin/Premier Classic. The action begins at 10:00 a.m. on Friday morning and 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. The Bruins will play Waldorf (noon) and Ottawa (8:00 p.m.) on Friday before returning to face Harris-Stowe (11:00 a.m.) and Peru State (5:00 p.m.) on Saturday.
