Bruins sweep V-Hawks in NSAA-opener

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University volleyball team emerged from their four-week hiatus in style as the Bruins defeated Viterbo University 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-23) in North Star Athletic Association action on Friday evening inside the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.

Records

Bellevue: 1-1 (1-0 NSAA)
Viterbo: 2-4 (2-2 NSAA)

Recap: BU 3, VU 0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-23)

Bellevue scored the first point of the match and rarely trailed in the match as they scored a victory in their home­- and NSAA-opening match.

Andrea Carson led the way with 15 kills, her second of the match representing the 1,000^th of her Bruin career, on .353 hitting. Eve Fountain joined her in double figures with 12 kills on .333 hitting.

Three Bruins recorded double figures in digs; Anna Koehler and Fountain dug 19 balls apiece and Sierra Athen – held to just 1 kill on offense – added 12 digs.

Olivia Galas directed the Bruin attack to a .227 hitting effort with 39 assists.

Grace Rohde hit .462 and led the V-Hawks with 13 kills while teammate Maya Roberts recorded 11 kills but hit just .139 on the evening. Adriana Reinhardt led the defensive efforts with 24 digs.

Set No. 1:

Bellevue led for the majority of the set and worked the lead to as many as four points (19-15) as they jumped out to an early lead.

At 12-11, Carson came up on a set from Galas and delivered a kill to give the Bruins a two-point lead and forever etch herself into the record books with her 1,000^th career kill.

Viterbo never pulled closer than two points the rest of the way as the Bruins took the set by a 25-21 margin. BU out-hit their guests .212-.170 in the stanza.

Set No. 2:

The second set followed a familiar script with Bellevue scoring first, but a 3-0 Viterbo run from 4-4 gave the V-Hawks their largest lead of the night to that point, at 7-4.

The Bruins bounced back with an 8-4 run (part of a larger 12-5 spurt) to take the lead for good, at 12-11, on a Viterbo ball-handling error.

Viterbo pulled to within a point twice late but Carson delivered the finish blow with a kill to give the Bruins a commanding two sets to none lead.

Bellevue out-hit the V-Hawks .298-.213 in the set.

Set No. 3:

The third set was the Bruins' (.167 hitting) worst offensive set of the evening but it coincided with Viterbo's (.048) poorest hitting effort as well.

Bellevue rattled off the first three points of the set and led 4-1 on a kill from Coree Lipovsky before the V-Hawks went on a 16-7 run to take the lead at 17-11, their largest of the evening.

The Bruins answered in convincing fashion, running off eight-straight points that featured a trio of kills and a block from Lipovsky to take a 19-17 and not look back.

With the score 24-23 in favor of the home-standing Bruins, Fountain put an exclamation point on the victory with a kill to give Bellevue their first sweep over Viterbo since 2013.

Up Next:

Bellevue continues their three-match home-stand tomorrow at 1 p.m. when they host Waldorf University in an NSAA contest.

Notes:

• Since joining the North Star (2015), Bellevue is 5-1 in NSAA-openers and 5-0 in NSAA home-openers (did not play any home NSAA matches during 2015 season).
• The Bruins improve to 23-7 all-time in home-openers since 1991 (when records are available after the re-start of the program).
• BU is now 5-9 against the V-Hawks and has won four of the last five matches against VU. 
• Andrea Carson becomes the 18^th Bruin to eclipse the 1,000-kill mark in her BU career.