BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Sophomore rightside hitter Kealy Kiviniemi pounded 13 kills on .600 hitting to lead the 18th-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-20) sweep over visiting Grand View University in the final match of the Marvel Classic played at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. The victory also marked head coach Trish Siedlik's 500th career win at BU. She is now 500-192 in her 18th season with the Bruins. Siedlik is 624-213 in 22 seasons overall coaching collegiately.
With the win, the Bruins improved to 18-7 on the season. Grand View dropped to 7-16 overall.
Bellevue hit .306 in the match while limiting GVU to a .210 attack percentage.
Eve Fountain finished with seven kills, five digs, and two service aces in the win. Haley Fleischman, Allie Kerns, and Sidney Sledge chipped in with five kills apiece.
Defensively, BU was led by Taylan Keefer's seven digs and Fleischman's seven blocks.
Heleine Filipe paced the Viking offense with 12 kills on 19 errorless swings.
Set 1: Bellevue 25, Grand View 20
A block by Sledge and Fleischman on Brooklyn Roder capped a 7-1 BU run, giving the Bruins an 18-12 advantage. The Vikings battled back to within three points at 23-20 sparked by a kill from Filipe and a service ace from Wagner-Chun. A service error by Wagner-Chun and a kill by Morgan Wale gave BU the first set, 25-20.
Kiviniemi led BU in the opener with six kills on .625 hitting. Sledge pounded four kills on four swings.
Set 2: Bellevue 25, Grand View 18
The Bruins used a 6-2 run to grab an early 10-6 lead in the second frame. After the Vikings climbed back to within two points, a 5-0 BU run fueled by a pair of Bruin blocks and a service ace from Fountain pushed the Bruin advantage to 20-13.
The Vikings got as close as five points, but two kills from Kiviniemi keyed a 3-1 run to end the set, giving BU the win, 25-18.
Kiviniemi's four kills sparked the BU offense in the second stanza.
Set 3: Bellevue 25, Grand View x
Neither team led by more than two points in the third set until a 4-0 run, sparked by a service ace from Kenzie Polk gave the Bruins a 21-18 lead. Back-to-back blocks by Kerns and Fleischman gave BU a 24-19 edge and the Bruins captured the sweep on a kill by Fleischman, making the final 25-20.
Up Next:
The Bruins will return to conference action next Thursday, Oct. 19, when they travel to Forest City, Iowa to take on Waldorf University beginning at 7 p.m.
