BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Three players recorded career highs, including sophomore Andrea Carson who pounded a career-best 25 kills as the 22nd-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team notched a 3-1 (25-15, 25-23, 22-25, 26-24) victory over Mayville State University in North Star Athletic Association action Friday night at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
With the win, the Bruins improved to 13-4 on the season and 4-0 in the NSAA. MSU dropped to 10-9 overall and 1-3 in league play.
Carson hit .327 in the match while adding three digs and a block as four Bruins recorded double-figure kill totals. Freshman Rosa Reed-Bouley registered 17 kills and three blocks. Senior Shayla Scanlan added 14 kills and five digs and freshman Sierra Athen contributed with 11 kills and seven digs.
Freshman setter Olivia Galas dished out a career-high 67 assists and added nine digs, five kills, and two blocks in the win.
Freshman Madi Evans anchored the Bruin defense, finishing with a career-high 31 digs, four assists, and a service ace.
The Comets were paced by a trio of players who recorded double-figure kills. Victoria Johnson (12), Hannah Bliss (11), and Cassidy Miller (10) combined for 33 kills to power the MSU offense. Jayden Warden collected a match-high 32 digs for the Comet defense.
The Bruins outhit MSU, .325 to .125 in the opening set and never trailed in cruising to the 25-15 win. Bouley and Carson each drilled five kills in the first frame.
Neither team led by more than three points in the tight second set. Tied at 20-20, the Bruins got kills from Athen, Carson, and Reed-Bouley, before a kill by Galas ended the set at 25-23.
Bellevue hit just .159 in the third game and the Comets took advantage of three attack errors and a BU service error down the stretch to pull out the 25-22 victory.
The closely-contested fourth set featured 10 ties and five lead changes. The Bruins' balanced attack saw five players record at least three kills as Galas collected 20 assists in the hard-fought 26-24 BU victory. BU was fueled by a pair of kills by Carson, and one each from Scanlan and Reed-Bouley in the final six points to escape with the two-point victory.
The Bruins return to action tomorrow afternoon when they host Presentation College in a 1 p.m. league contest at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.