BU wins Ashford Saints Invite; Bell named tournament MVP

Ashford Saints Invitational
Ashford Box Score | Viterbo Box Score

CLINTON, Iowa -- The 17th-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team concluded the Ashford Saints Invitational with a 4-0 record after a pair of victories Saturday at Kehl Arena. 

The Bruins opened the day with a 3-1 (24-26, 25-14, 25-15, 25-7) victory against host Ashford University before sweeping 13th-ranked Viterbo University (25-19, 25-18, 25-15) in the tournament finale.

With the two wins on the day, Bellevue improved 13-3 and have won six-straight matches.

Sunny Bell was named tournament MVP and Sydney DeBoer and Beth Walker were also named to the all-tournment team.

The Bruins will return to action on Tuesday, Sept. 17 with a home match scheduled against College of Saint Mary at 7:00 p.m. at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. The contest will also serve as BU's annual Dig Pink match to help raise awareness for breast cancer.

Bellevue 3, Ashford 1

After dropping the opening set, 26-24, the Bruins won the final three to defeat Ashford in four games.

Bell led BU with 16 kills while Symone Faulkner added 12 and DeBoer tallied 11 kills and five block assists.

Walker recorded 45 assists and 17 digs for her team-high seventh double-double of the season.

Annie Benson led the defense with 18 digs and added nine kills. Meghan Evans notched 10 digs and a season-best eight set assists.

The Saints scored five of the first seven points of the match before BU answered with a 4-1 run to take its first lead of the contest, 6-5. With the set tied at 16-16, AU scored the next four points to take a 20-16 lead. Trailing 24-20, the Bruins scored four-straight points to even the set at 24-all, but the Saints ended the set with a kill and service ace to post the 26-24 win.   

BU hit .419 and led by as many as 14 points (21-7) en route to the 25-14 victory. Caitlyn Rueth and DeBoer combined for nine kills to lead the offensive attack.

AU hit -.074 in the third set and -.148 in the fourth set as the Bruins cruised to the 25-15 and 25-7 victories. BU never trailed in the final three sets to complete the comeback.

The Bruins hit .349 for the match with six service aces while the Saints were held to an attacking percentage of .089. AU was plagued by 22 hitting errors and five service errors.

AU dropped to 10-5 with the loss.

Bellevue 3, Viterbo 0

The Bruins hit .376 as they snapped Viterbo's 10-game winning streak with a 3-0 sweep of the V-Hawks.

Bell paced the offense with a match-high 14 kills and hit .500 while Benson recorded nine kills and nine digs.

Faulkner registered five blocks and Rueth and DeBoer each tallied three block assists.

Walker recorded 38 set assists, seven digs, six kills and two blocks while Evans anchored the defense with 14 digs and four assists.

BU opened the match on an 11-6 run before VU used a 5-2 spurt to cut the Bruins' lead down to two (13-11). The Bruins responded by outscoring the V-Hawks 12-8 to take the opening set, 25-19.

The Bruins scored the first three points of the second set and never trailed as they won, 25-18. Seven different players tallied a kill in the game.

Leading 10-9, the Bruins scored the next four points and VU never got any closer than three points the remaining of the match as BU cruised to the straight-set win. DeBoer recorded five kills on five swings to lead the offensive attack.

The V-Hawks (15-3) were led by Alicia Olson's team-high 13 kills.

All-Tournament Team
Sunny Bell (MVP) - Bellevue
Victoria Day - Ashford
Morgan Martells - Ashford
Sydney DeBoer - Bellevue
Beth Walker - Bellevue
Emily Wineinger - Clarke
Kamrin Gold - Culver-Stockton
Denise Atualevao - Graceland
Alicia Olson - Viterbo
Jen Krentz - Viterbo