Bellevue defeats William Penn, Culver-Stockton at Ashford Invite

Ashford Saints Invitational
William Penn Box Score | Culver-Stockton Box Score

CLINTON, Iowa -- The Bellevue University volleyball team posted a pair of straight-set victories Friday at the Ashford Saints Invitational at Kehl Arena.

The Bruins, ranked No. 17 in the NAIA, opened with a 25-11, 25-16, 25-13 win against Penn William University before posting a 25-13, 25-20, 25-18 victory against Culver-Stockton College. 

Bellevue (11-3) will play host Ashford University tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. before concluding the tournament with a 5:00 p.m. match against either No. 13 Viterbo University or Clarke University.

Bellevue 3, William Penn 0

BU hit a season-best .488 as they posted the convincing sweep (25-11, 25-16, 25-13) in its tournament opener over William Penn.

The Bruins had nine different players record at least three kills and were led by Sunny Bell's match-high 13 on .526 hitting, while Symone Faulkner registered eight kills on 11 attempts. Bell also added six digs and Faulkner notched two block assists.

Beth Walker recorded 35 assists and nine digs and Meghan Evans tallied eight digs and a season-high seven set assists.

Trailing 2-1 in the opening set, the Bruins went on a 9-1 run to take a 10-3 advantage and force a WPU timeout. The Statesmen responded by scoring the next two points, but they never got any closer as BU outscored WPU 15-6 to win, 25-16. BU hit .696 with 17 kills and just one attacking error in the game.

With the second set tied at 14-14, the Bruins scored 11 of the final 13 points to take the game, 25-16. Bell led the BU offense with seven kills.

The Bruins scored the first five points and led by as many as 13 en route to the 25-13 win in the third game. BU recorded three service aces and held WPU to -.100 hitting. Faulkner registered five kills on five swings to pace BU.

The Statesmen hit just .073 and committed 15 hitting errors as they fell to 7-8 on the season.

Bellevue 3, Culver-Stockton 0

For the second-straight match, BU hit better than .400 as they defeated Culver-Stockton, 3-0.

Bell paced the Bruins with 13 kills, six digs and three blocks. Sydney DeBoer and Faulkner both recorded nine kills and combined for nine blocks.

Evans anchored the BU defense with a match-high 13 digs. She also tallied two assists and a service ace.

Walker finished with 38 set assists, three block assists, three kills and a dig.

After dropping the first point of the game, the Bruins never trailed again they posted the 12-point opening set win, 25-13. The Wildcats hit -.083 with nine hitting errors and two service errors.

The second set featured nine ties and five lead changes. Leading by one, 17-16, the Bruins closed the game on an 8-4 run to take the stanza, 25-20. Faulkner pounded six of her nine kills in the set to lead the offense.

Facing a 6-2 deficit in the third set, the Bruins used a 8-2 spurt to take a two-point edge, 10-8. With the game tied at 14-14, the Bruins ended the match on an 11-4 run to complete the sweep.

BU hit .413 and held the Wildcats to a .132 hitting clip.

CSC dropped to 8-2 and were led by Kamrin Gold's 10 kills and five digs.