OTTAWA, Kan. -- The 12th-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team continued its hot start to the 2023 campaign, earning a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-23) victory over Hastings College Friday afternoon in the Ottawa University Invitational being played at the Wilson Field House.
With the win, the Bruins improved to 13-1 on the season. Hastings fell to 5-7 overall.
The three-set victory marked the Bruins' ninth sweep of the 2023 campaign.
Kealy Kiviniemi led the Bruins with 12 kills on .379 hitting while adding seven digs and a pair of blocks.
Allie Kerns finished with nine kills and two digs. Haley Fleischman hit .412 with eight kills on 17 swings. Sidney Sledge and Eve Fountain chipped in with seven kills apiece.
Jada Nunn recorded her second double-double of the season, finishing with 17 assists and ten digs. Mila Aiwohi dished out 22 assists while adding eight digs. Nunn and Aiwohi directed the BU offense to a .275 hitting percentage.
Taylan Keefer anchored the Bruin defense with 12 digs while adding five assists. BU held the Broncos to a .189 attacking clip.
Kaitlin Thiebauth paced HC with 11 kills on .273 hitting.
Set 1: Bellevue 25, Hastings 19
Trailing 16-14, the Bruins closed the first set on an 11-3 run to earn the 25-19 victory. Kerns (4), Sledge (3), and Kiviniemi (3) combined for ten kills to lead BU in the opener.
The Bruins hit .316 in the first set while limiting the Broncos to .132 hitting. BU had just two attack errors in the opener.
Set 2: Bellevue 25, Hastings 17
Neither team could establish control in the second frame until the Bruins used a 6-0 run to gain a 16-10 advantage, capped by a service ace from Fountain and kills by Kiviniemi and Kerns.
Kills by Fleischman and Kerns and a service ace by Raeanne Kimoto highlighted a 5-1 BU run, expanding the Bruin advantage to nine points at 22-13.
The Broncos battled back, scoring three straight points, to pull to within six before BU got kills from Fountain, Fleishman, and Sledge to take the second set, 25-17.
Fountain and Kiviniemi led BU in the second with four kills apiece.
Set 3: Bellevue 25, Hastings 23
Behind the serving of Ali Butler, the Bruins used a 5-0 run to take an early 6-2 lead in the third stanza.
The Broncos countered with a 7-1 spurt to take the lead at 9-7. After a Bruin attack error gave the Broncos a 17-14 edge, BU tied the contest at 18-all with a 4-1 run sparked by a tool kill from Kiviniemi.
Another Butler serving run gave the Bruins a 20-19 advantage. The two teams traded the next seven points until BU closed the match on a kill by Sledge and a solo block by Morgan Wale, to earn the sweep with the 25-23 victory.
Up Next:
The Bruins will conclude the tournament on Saturday with an 11 a.m. match against Kansas Wesleyan University and a 5 p.m. battle with MidAmerica Nazarene University.
