BELLEVUE, Neb. – The the Bellevue University volleyball team received contributions from everyone as they won a pair of matches on the first day of the 2014 Bruin/Premier Classic at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center on Friday. Bellevue defeated Waldorf College 3-0 in the opener and took down Ottawa University 3-1 in the nightcap. With the victories Bellevue improves to 13-13 on the year, but more importantly, the victory against Waldorf moved the Bruins to 2-0 in MCAC play.
Match One: Bellevue 3, Waldorf 0 (25-21, 25-19. 25-20)
Junior Symone Faulkner (Denver, Col.) finished with 10 kills and attacked at .500 while registering six blocks (1 solo, 5 assists) as Bellevue struck a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-20) victory over Waldorf in an MCAC match-up to open the Bruin/Premier Classic for both schools. Waldorf dropped to 4-15 with the loss, including 0-1 in conference play.
The first set was tightly contested with neither team able to get a lead of more than four at any point. Bellevue's largest lead was four at 10-6 but from there Waldorf was able to cut into the deficit, even managing to claim a 21-20 lead late in the match but five straight points by the Bruins gave BU the 1-0 advantage.
The second set followed a similar script as the score stayed within four until Bellevue was able to claim a 19-14 lead following an attack error by the Warriors. BU would extend their lead to as many as seven at 24-17 on their way to a 25-19 win and a commanding two sets to none lead.
The third set seemed destined to buck the trend of the close sets when Bellevue opened up a three point lead at 9-6 on their way to a seven point lead at 19-12 but the Warriors made things interesting again. A 7-4 spurt pulled Waldorf within three at 23-20 but the Bruins won the next to points to close out the match.
Freshmen Hope Lambrecht (Wood River, Neb.) and Gracie Myers (Treynor, Iowa) each finished with nine kills and a .400 hitting percentage in support of Faulkner offensively. Junior Beth Walker (Dubuque, Iowa) directed the offense once again, totaling 40 assists to go along with six digs and three block assists. Freshman Addison Smith (Papillion, Neb.) led the team with 11 digs while classmate Taylor Holz (Omaha, Neb.) added eight.
Sophomore LaJaida Even (Waverly, Iowa) aided the effort with eight kills as BU out-hit Waldorf .326-1.96 and held a 41-31 advantage in digs.
Match Two: Bellevue 1, Ottawa 1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-17, 25-16)
LaJaida Even and Gracie Myers led three Bruins with double-figure kills, with 11 apiece, as Bellevue dispatched Ottawa, 3-1, to complete their day one sweep at the Bruin/Premier Classic. Ottawa dropped to 12-7 with the loss.
Even was joined in double figure kills by freshman Rachel Wald (Omaha, Neb.) who finished with 10 while Beth Walker and Hope Lambrecht each added eight kills and Symone Faulkner chipped in seven.
Bellevue got off to a quick start in the first set turning an 11-9 advantage into a commanding 18-9 with a 7-0 run before holding on for a 25-21 victory. The second set saw Ottawa follow Bellevue's blueprint by using a big run (6-1) to start the set and claim a 25-22 victory to knot things up at one set apiece.
The always pivotal third set saw Bellevue go down early but then rally on their way to closing the set in impressive fashion. Trailing 3-0 to open the third set, the Bruins responded by scoring 20 of the next 26 points to go up 20-9 on their way to claiming a 25-17 win and a 2-1 lead through three sets.
Bellevue carried the momentum they gained in the third set with them to the fourth, using an 11-5 run to turn a 7-7 tie into an 18-12 advantage. From there Ottawa went on to score the next two points but it wasn't enough as BU hung on for the 25-16 set win and 3-1 victory in the match.
In addition to her eight kills, Walker added her team-leading 12th double-double with 40 assists and 18 digs for the match. Freshmen Maddie Nygren (Mead, Neb.) and Hannah Taylor (Hallam, Neb.) added 13 and 11 digs, respectively. Bellevue out-hit Ottawa .212-.137 and held a 75-60 advantage in digs for the match.
The Bruins will return to action tomorrow with a pair of games to close out the Bruin/Premier Classic. Bellevue will host Harris-Stowe at 11:00 a.m. and close out the tournament with a 5:00 p.m. match against Peru State.
Day One Results:
10:00 a.m. – Peru State 3, Harris-Stowe 0
12:00 p.m. – Bellevue 3, Waldorf 0
2:00 p.m. – Ottawa 3, College of St. Mary 2
4:00 p.m. – Waldorf 3, Harris-Stowe 0
6:00 p.m. – Peru State 3, College of St. Mary 1
8:00 p.m. – Bellevue 3, Ottawa 1
