No. 8 Bruins survive five-setter at Hastings

Box Score

HASTINGS, Neb. -- The eighth-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team won its second-straight five-set match and its third in the last 11 days as BU survived over Hastings College, 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 25-15, 18-25, 15-13) Tuesday night in non-conference action in Lynn Farrell Arena. 

With the win, the Bruins improved to 16-3 on the season. Hastings dropped to 8-7 overall. 

Kealy Kiviniemi led the Bruins with 19 kills on .472 hitting. Eve Fountain collected her team-leading ninth double-double of the season, finishing with 15 kills and 23 digs. Sidney Sledge was the third Bruin in double figures, notching 10 kills. 

Victoria Runyan (23) and Mila Aiwohi (25) combined for 48  assists.

Taylan Keefer produced 22 digs, five assists, and two service aces. With her 16th dig of the match, Keefer became the fifth player in school history to register 2,000 digs in a career. She now has 2,006 career digs. 

Makenna Sutter's 22 kills paced the Broncos. Majesta Valasek added 16 kills and seven digs. Alexis Pointe registered a double-double with 49 assists and 12 digs. Miriam Miller led all players with 24 digs.  

The Broncos battled back from a four-point deficit in the opening frame, using a 7-1 run to close the set, taking the opener, 25-22. BU hit just .133 in the first set. The Bruins committed six attacking errors, four reception errors, and two service errors in the opener. Fountain and Kiviniemi led the way with three kills each. Valasek paced HC in the opener with four kills on .375 hitting. 

The Bruins turned a three-point deficit into a four-point advantage midway through the second set, going on an 8-1 run highlighted by a pair of kills from Sledge and kills from Fountain and Kiviniemi, giving BU a 14-10 edge. Hastings got to within one point at 17-16 following a service ace from Mikah O'Neill. Bellevue quickly answered, getting four kills from Sledge as BU closed the set on an 8-2 spurt to even the match with the 25-18 victory. Sledge pounded six kills in the second frame. 

BU raced out to a 9-3 lead in the third set, capped off by back-to-back kills from Aspen Meyer, forcing a Bronco timeout. A pair of kills by Fountain and a service ace by Keefer helped expand the margin to nine points at 18-9. The Broncos never got closer than six points the remainder of the set as BU cruised to the 25-15 win. 

Hastings grabbed a 13-7 advantage in the fourth frame, capitalizing on six Bruin attacking errors to open the set. Back-to-back kills by Kiviniemi and Sledge forced a Bronco timeout as BU closed the gap to three points at 18-15. A pair of service aces by O'Neill helped HC close the stanza on a 7-3 run as the Broncos forced a fifth set with the 25-18 victory. 

BU connected on five early kills and got a service ace from Runyan to race out to an 8-3 lead in the deciding set.  After a kill by Sledge made it 13-7, the Broncos scored two quick points to force a BU timeout at 13-9. HC came out of the timeout with two more points following a BU-hitting error and a kill by Kaitlin Thiebauth to make it 13-11. A service error by Dacey Sealey gave BU three match points at 14-11. After saving the first two match points, Kiviniemi ended the match with a kill from the right side to give BU the dramatic 15-13 win.  

The Bruins return home on Thursday, Oct. 3, for a 7 p.m. North Star Athletic Association contest against Valley City State University.