DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- After falling behind 2-0, the Bellevue University volleyball team forced a fifth game but fell short as South Dakota School of Mines & Technology pulled out a 3-2 (25-23, 25-23, 16-25, 14-25, 15-11) win in the Bruins' final match of the Embry-Riddle Tournament Saturday night.
The Bruins, who defeated Webber International, 3-1, earlier Saturday, fell to 21-8 on the season. SDSMT, an NCAA Division II member, improved to 9-14 overall.
Jordan Broady collected her fourth triple-double of the season, finishing with 12 kills, 45 assists, and 13 digs. Sydney DeBoer, who was named to the all-tournament team, registered a career-high 16 kills while adding two service aces. Annie Benson recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 16 digs.
Meghan Evans led the BU defense with a match-high 19 digs.
SDSMT was paced by Justine Blade's 19 kills.
The Hardrockers closed out the first game on a 7-3 run to pull out the 25-23 win. Broady and DeBoer led BU in the opener with four kills each. Caitlyn Rueth, Sunny Bell, and Symone Faulkner each collected three kills as the Bruins hit .275 in the first set. Blade pounded eight kills on .471 hitting to pace the SDSMT attack.
The Bruins squandered a six-point lead in the second game, suffering six hitting errors and a pair of receive errors as SDSMT built a 2-0 advantage with the 25-23 win. Rueth led BU in the second with three kills on five swings.
Paced by four kills from Benson and three from Broady, the Bruins never trailed in the third, rebounding for the 25-16 win.
Six kills by DeBoer highlighted a 13-0 BU run midway through the fourth game, as Bellevue cruised to the 25-14 win. DeBoer collected eight kills and Benson added four in the fourth stanza as the Bruins forced a deciding fifth game.
SDSMT raced out to a 10-5 lead in the fifth game and led 14-8, before the Bruins got kills from Broady and DeBoer and a service ace from Beth Walker to close the gap to 14-11. The Hardrockers ended the match on a kill by Blade.
Bellevue will host the Bruin/Premier Classic next Friday-Saturday, Oct. 12-13, in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
