BUTTE, Mont. -- An opening set team hitting percentage of .410 set the tone as the #20 Bellevue University volleyball team swept Carroll College by scores of 25-16, 25-23, and 27-25 on Saturday evening in the Big Sky Challenge, played at the Butte Civic Center.
Bellevue evened their overall record at 2-2 while the Fighting Saints saw their record dip to 4-5 on the young season.
Shayla Scanlan and Andrea Carson led the attack for the Bruins, finishing with 14 and 10 kills, respectively. Carson hit .385 on the evening while Scanlan saw her hitting percentage settle at .316 for the night.
Maddie Squiers directed an efficient BU offense – the Bruins hit .275 as a team – with 32 assists and narrowly missed a double-double, finishing the night with nine digs. She also tallied seven kills on .429 hitting.
Michaela Gardner registered seven kills on .300 hitting while Hope Lambrecht and Mikaylah Gillespie contributed five kills apiece.
The defensive effort shown by the Bruins was again on point at three different players reached double-digit digs. Taylor Holz led the way with 20, Fabiola Aviles dug 14 balls, and Cheyenne Mahnke chipped in 11.
Bellevue out-hit Carroll in all three sets, and by a margin of .275-.159 on the match. The biggest discrepancy came in the opening frame with BU hitting .410 to Carroll's .175. Set number two saw a more balance effort with Bellevue out-hitting the Fighting Saints just .138-.113. The Bruins resumed their earlier sharpness in the final set, out-hitting Carroll .333-.200.
Holly Morehouse paced the Carroll attack with 11 kills (.214 hitting) as Casey McInerney (9 kills, .250 hitting) and Rayna Pilgeram (8 kills, .240 hitting) were the only other consisted sources of offense for the Fighting Saints. Pilgeram finished on a double-double with 24 assists and 22 digs. Ayla Carpenter tallied 15 digs of her own for Carroll who matched Bellevue with 75 digs as a team.
Bellevue next plays on Wednesday, Aug. 30 at Concordia University in Seward, Neb. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
