SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- In struggling to find offensive rhythm, the Bellevue University volleyball team lost to Midland University 3-0 in the final match of Pool C at the NAIA National Tournament.
The Warriors improve to 27-5 overall while Bellevue finishes the year at 28-8. All three teams in Pool C (Midland, Bellevue, and Westmont) finished with matching 1-1 Pool Play records forcing a tiebreaker Friday evening. Midland, the top team after breaking the tie, faces the winner of a one-set playoff between Bellevue and Westmont with the winner then advancing to the quarterfinals.
Midland limited Bellevue to just .039 hitting and the Bruins committed 27 attack errors.
Sierra Athen led Bellevue with eight kills on .353 hitting and registered a team-high 16 digs. Raeanne Kimoto joined Athen in double figures with 10 digs.
Olivia Galas totaled 23 assists and eight digs.
Addisyn Mosier recorded 16 kills for the Warriors on .211 hitting. Taliyah Flores (8) and Lauryn Samuelson (7) combined for 15 kills. Hope Leimbach finished with 35 assists while Flores (17) and Delanie Vallinch (15) both finished with double figure digs for the Warriors.
Midland won the opening set 25-19. The Warriors built a comfortable 11-5 lead early while Bellevue never pulled closer than five the rest of the way.
A tight second set saw BU put the Warriors on the ropes, tying the match at 22, 24, and 25 before ultimately succumbing 27-25 as Midland took a commanding 2-0 advantage.
Bellevue again kept the third set tight early and trailed by just a point, 12-11, after a kill by Jacki Apel. However, Midland answered by scoring eight of the next 12 points to grab a 20-15 lead. A service error made it 20-16 but Midland closed the match scoring the final five points, including getting a helping hand from three Bruin attack errors.
Tiebreaker:
In the tiebreaker set, Westmont found an early lead and never relinquished it, answering every run that BU made and hanging on to advance by a score of 25-21.
