ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The Bellevue University women's volleyball team picked up a split on Friday evening in a pair of matches against Top 25 opponents at the Missouri Baptist Spartan Invitational.
The Bruins opened the event with a four-set win over No. 25 Columbia before being swept by host and No. 5-ranked Missouri Baptist.
With the split, the Bruins' overall record now stands at 6-2. Columbia is now 10-6 while Missouri Baptist rests at 13-1.
#12 BU 3, #25 Columbia 1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-14, 25-19)
Sierra Athen put away a match-high 15 kills and Eve Fountain hit .462 with 13 kills and 15 digs for her third-straight double-double, dating back to November.
After a pair of tightly contested sets saw the match tied at 1-1, Bellevue clamped down defensively and limited the Cougars to just .017 hitting the rest of the way to win the final two sets and secure the match victory.
BU registered a .321 hitting percentage over the final two sets as the Bruins hit .258 for the match.
Olivia Galas tallied 46 assists and just missed a double-double, finishing with nine digs. Siena Black and Jacki Apel totaled nine kills apiece, Anna Koehler secured 11 digs, and Brooklyn Hundt finished with 10 digs.
Jacqueline Silva (12) and Sidney Branson (11) combined for 23 kills in the loss for Columbia.
#5 MBU 3, #12 BU 0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-14)
Missouri Baptist started strong and looked the part of a top five team winning all three sets in convincing fashion to half Bellevue's six-match win streak.
Olivia Galas finished with 19 assists for the Bruins who hit a season-low .041 as a unit.
Jacki Apel led BU with seven kills. Eve Fountain and Sierra Athen added five and four, respectively, but the duo was hampered by a combined 12 attack errors.
Anna Koehler was the lone Bellevue player to record double figures in digs with 10.
Isidora Stojovic and Giovanna Tapigliani led MBU with nine kills apiece and Raylyn Dodd contributed eight.
Up Next:
The Bruins return home on Wednesday, Mar. 3 for another Top 15 match-up when they host No. 10 Concordia University (12-3) at 7 p.m. from inside the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
