BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Behind a .287 hitting effort the Bellevue University volleyball team defeated No. 24 Doane College, 3-0, on Monday evening at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. Bellevue won by scores of 25-22, 25-18, 25-11.
The Bruins started the match strong, grabbing a 10-7 lead and prompting Doane to take their first timeout. The timeout didn't appear to help much as the Bruins pushed their lead to 17-11 before the next Tiger timeout. BU hit .351 in the opening set, needing every percentage point as Doane hit .257 but the Bruins claimed the victory, 25-22.
Bellevue's hot-hitting cooled off in the second set as the Bruins were held in relative check at .185 but played great defensively, holding Doane to an .069 hitting effort. The combined offensive and defensive effort was enough to give the Bruins a convincing 25-18 second set victory and a commanding two sets to none lead.
BU again started strong, scoring the first three points in the third set before scoring five straight points and taking a convincing 9-2 lead to start the set. The Bruins, after Doane took a timeout at 7-2, went on to score seven of the next 11 points to go up 14-6 before Doane spent their second timeout. Bellevue went on to lead by as many as 14 points in the set on their way to a comfortable 25-11 win to clinch the match.
For the match the Bruins out-hit Doane by a .287-.111 margin, also held a sizable 44-33 edge in digs, and a slight 6-5 advantage in blocks.
Freshman Marylyn Mozena and sophomore Rachel Wald co-led the Bruins with nine kills apiece while freshman Shayla Scanlan contributed eight, senior Beth Walker added five, and sophomore Mikaylah Gillespie chipped in with four. Walker directed the attack flawlessly, finishing with 31 assists. Defensively the Bruins were led by sophomore Taylor Holz and senior Victoria Bowens who finished with 15 and seven digs, respectively. Freshman Erin Warren added six digs in the victory.
The victory for the Bruins was their first in their last five matches against current Great Plains Athletic Conference members. BU is now 6-2 in their last eight meetings with Doane. Also, with the win, Bellevue is now 7-0 at home. That is their best start at home since opening up the 2012 season with 10-straight victories.
Bellevue (12-9) will return to the court on Friday with the first two of their four matches at the Clarke Tournament. The Bruins take on Valley City State at 4 p.m. in their first-ever North Star Athletic Association match before taking on the hosts at 6 p.m.
