BELLEVUE, Neb. -- A pair of Bellevue University athletic teams will be competing this weekend and BUBruins.com will give you a quick preview today.
#22 Volleyball (30-10): vs. Haskell Indian Nations | Sat., Nov. 19
The volleyball team is competing in the NAIA Opening Round Tournament where they will host Haskell Indian Nations University on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. The winner advances to the NAIA National Tournament to be played at the Tyson Events Center from Nov. 29-Dec. 3 in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Bruins have won 13 of their last 15 matches – their only losses coming to #2 Viterbo and #19 Jamestown – as they reached the 30-win plateau for the first time since the 2013 season when they finished 34-9.
Bellevue is making their ninth appearance (2000, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016) all-time in the National Tournament. This is the sixth time that BU has played in an Opening Round match. The Bruins have three of their previous five and have reached the final site a total of six times.
Ticket prices for Saturday's game are:
- $5 for Adults
- $3 for College Students
- Free – BU Students, K-12 Students
- NAIA Member Passes will be accepted
Scouting Haskell: The Indians (14-15) qualified for the National Tournament by placing second in the A.I.I. Tournament. After dropping their first match to College of the Ozarks, Haskell bounced back to win three-straight matches and reach the tournament final which was enough to earn a post-season bid.
The Indians are led by Aspen Sheperd's who leads the team with 329 kills, 3.05 kills per set, a .291 hitting percentage, and 95 blocks. Shayla Yazzie has been their top defensive player with 424 digs and an average of 4.66 digs per set. Their setters, Randi Romero and Amber Whitehair, both have better than 300 assists on the year with Romero leading the way with 531 and Whitehair adding 366.
Bruins Stat Leaders:
Kills Leaders: Pakalana Helekahi (370), Shayla Scanlan (364), Mikaylah Gillespie (334), Hope Lambrecht (318)
Digs Leaders: Taylor Holz (655), Verenice Chaparro (379), Maddie Squiers (343), Lauren Colpitts (290)
Assist Leader: Maddie Squiers (1,635)
Blocks Leaders: Mikaylah Gillespie (149), Hope Lambrecht (125), Shayla Scanlan (113)
#24 Men's Basketball (4-4): at College of the Ozarks | Sat., Nov. 19
The men's basketball team plays at former College of the Ozarks on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 5 p.m. in Point Lookout, Mo. The two teams have met frequently since both were members of the MCAC, playing 52 times from 1994 until the league disbanded in 2015. Last year they met twice with each team winning on their others' home floor.
The Bruins have won four of their last six games to even their season record at 4-4. To date, Bellevue has played three ranked teams all away from home. Last weekend they knocked off #25 Dakota Wesleyan and dropped a tight game against #21 Midland. Earlier this week BU upended Division II Chadron State, 78-77, at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
Two Bruins – BJ Shelton and Jalen Hall – are averaging in double figures with five more averaging between 5.5 and 9.1 points per game. BU is averaging over 40 rebounds per game and their opponents are pulling down 33 per game. They are led on the glass by Blake Wilder and Jaffrey Stillman.
Scouting Ozarks: The Bobcats have jumped out to a 5-2 start which features a 95-83 win over #10 Tabor on Nov. 4 at home. CofO will have another result on their resume by the weekend as they play at John Brown on Thursday evening.
Cameron Paschke leads four Bobcats averaging in double figures with 22.3 points per game. Ethan Davidson (11.0), Canyon Smith (10.4), and Heath Carmichael (10.0) are all scoring 10 or more points per game as well. Davidson leads Ozarks on the boards averaging 6.7 rebounds per game. As a team the Bobcats average 81.7 points per game and have held their opposition to an average of 71.7 points.
Bruins Stat Leaders:
Scoring Leaders: BJ Shelton (14.0), Jalen Hall (12.6), Mike Cardenas (9.1), Blake Wilder (8.6), Nick Hilton (8.4)
Rebounding Leaders: Blake Wilder (7.4), Jaffrey Stillman (6.6), Jalen Hall (4.8), BJ Shelton (4.6)
Assist Leaders: Jalen Hall (31), Terrance Wienecke (18), BJ Shelton (11)
3-Point Leaders: Nick Hilton (17, 36.2%), Mike Cardenas (16, 32.0%), Jerred Cook (12, 50.0%)
