BELLEVUE, Neb. -- After a four-month break, the 12th-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team, led by freshman Eve Fountain, overcame an 0-2 deficit to produce a (3-2) 20-25, 25-27, 25-19, 25-15, 15-12 victory over visiting MidAmerica Nazarene University Saturday afternoon at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
With the victory, the Bruins improved to 5-1 on the season. MNU fell to 12-8 overall.
Fountain finished with a match-high 20 kills and 24 digs, along with three service aces and two block assists. Fountain hit .367 in the victory.
Sienna Black produced a career-high 12 kills on .323 hitting while adding a match-high nine block assists. Sierra Athen was the third Bruin in double figures, finishing with 11 kills and 12 digs along with a pair of blocks.
Olivia Galas registered her third-straight double-double with 47 assists and 19 digs while guiding the Bruins to a .196 hitting percentage. Anna Koehler notched 21 digs, two service aces, and two assists in the libero spot.
The Pioneers were led by Terera Saunders, who finished with 15 kills on .387 hitting while adding four digs and two blocks. Jacqueline Calvert collected 14 kills and nine digs and Jennifer Roth added 11 kills and 21 digs.
MNU hit a sizzling .438 in the opening set and used a 9-1 run en route to the 25-20 victory. Roth had six kills on 10 errorless swings in the opening set as the Pioneers committed just one attack error.
The second set featured 12 ties and eight lead changes. The Bruins saved three set points, before the Pioneers closed out the game following an attack error by Athen and a kill by Saunders, giving MNU a 27-25 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Bruins never trailed in the third set, closing out the game on a 6-0 run en route to the 25-19 win. Fountain had five kills in the third set and hit .364 while Black nailed three kills and.600 hitting.
A 12-4 run in the fourth set helped the Bruins to a 21-11 lead as BU forced a fifth set with the 25-15 victory, capped by an emphatic kill by Fountain on set point.
The Bruins raced out to a 3-0 lead in the fifth set only to see the Pioneers battle back with three-consecutive points of their own. Once again, BU went on a run sparked by two kills from Athen to take a 7-4 led. The Pioneers used a 4-1 run aided by two BU attack errors to knot the set at 8-8. After trading the next four points, BU's 3-1 spurt gave the Bruins a 13-11 lead. After a kill by Calvert made it 13-12, the Bruins closed out the match with consecutive kills by Athen and Fountain.
The Bruins return to action next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19-20, when they travel to St. Louis, Mo. to compete in the Missouri Baptist Invitational. BU will battle No. 5 Missouri Baptist, No. 7 Grand View, and No. 25 Columbia (Mo.) in the tournament.
