FOREST CITY, Iowa -- Outside hitters Sierra Athen and Andrea Carson combined for 36 kills to lead the 20th-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22) victory at Waldorf University Saturday evening in North Star Athletic Association action at the Hanson Fieldhouse.
With the win, the Bruins improved to 15-5 on the season and 6-1 in the NSAA at the half-way point of the league schedule. Waldorf fell to 3-15 overall and 2-5 in the conference play.
Athen led BU with a career-high 21 kills on .318 hitting to go along with five digs. Carson finished with 15 kills, two digs and a pair of blocks. Coree Lipovsky hit .583 with seven kills on 12 errorless swings.
Olivia Galas directed the BU offense to a .244 attack percentage, dishing out 44 assists, to go along with eight digs, two kills and a block.
Defensively, the Bruins were paced by Madi Evans' 24 digs.
Waldorf was also led by their outside hitters as Kyra Platzek (18) and Sarah Williams (15) combined for 33 kills to pace the Warrior attack.
The turning point of the match came in the third set when the Bruins overcame a 15-9 deficit, closing the set on a 16-8 run to edge WU, 25-23. The Bruins hit .421 in the third frame.
BU led from start to finish in the fourth set, leading by as many as eight points before pulling out the set, 25-22, ending the match in four sets.
The Bruins return home on Tuesday, Oct. 9, when they host Dakota State University at 7 p.m. in an NSAA contest at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.