Fountain fuels Bruin 5-set victory

MADISON, S.D. -- Eve Fountain turned in a dominating performance on both sides of the ball to lead the Bellevue University volleyball team to an exhilarating five-set North Star Athletic Association victory over Dakota State University on Wednesday evening at the DSU Fieldhouse.

Records:

Bellevue: 4-1 (4-0 NSAA)
Dakota St.: 6-4 (2-1 NSAA)

Recap: BU 3, DaSU 2 (25-18, 23-25, 23-25, 25-12, 15-7)

Eve Fountain totaled a record-tying 26 kills on .412 hitting to go along with 19 digs to lead Bellevue past Dakota State. She led three other Bruins with double figure kills as Coree Lipovsky (13/.407 hitting), Andrea Carson (12/.167), and Sierra Athen (11./172) all joined her in double figures.

Olivia Galas notched a season-best 59 assists and added 20 digs for her third double-double of the season, one of four Bruins to record double-doubles on the night. Along with Galas and Fountain, Athen (11 kills, 11 digs) and Carson (12 kills, 17 digs) each achieved the feat.

Bellevue hit .298 as a team while holding Dakota State to .096 attacking, well below the Trojans' season average.

BU also held a sizable defensive edge, out-digging DaSU 94-65 to make up for a 10-8 deficiency blocking at the net.

Hannah Viet and Riley Grandpre shared team-high honors in kills for the Trojans with 11 apiece while Maddie Polzin put away 10 kills. Nicole Sarringar (16 assists, 15 digs) tallied a double-double and Madalyn Groft registered a team-best 18 assists in Dakota State's two-setter system. Peyton Groft led the defense with 18 digs as Sarringar and Tayler Corey joined her in double figures, the latter recording 10 digs.

Following an opening set in which Bellevue trailed just twice – and by just a point each time – Dakota State eked out consecutive 25-23 victories to go up 2-1 after a pivotal third set.

With a renewed sense of urgency, the Bruins rattled off a 17-3 run, that included scoring the final 10 points, to overcome an early 9-8 deficit in the fourth set to force a decisive fifth.

Consecutive points by the Trojans in the fifth gave the home side an early 2-1 lead but BU scored a 6-1 run to go ahead 7-3. DaSU closed to within three points (10-7) but five straight kills from Bellevue hitters ended the match in the Bruins' favor.

Up Next:

Bellevue travels to Aberdeen, S.D. next Friday for a 7 p.m. first serve against Presentation College from inside PC's Strode Center.

Notes:

• The win snapped a 5-match losing streak in the series for the Bruins, who improve to 13-6 all-time against Dakota State.
• Fountain's 26 kills tie the record for kills under the current scoring rules (rally scoring, sets to 25), matching Kali Schnacker's total against College of Idaho on Aug. 27, 2011 and are the eighth-highest single match total in program history.