ST. LOUIS – The Bellarmine University volleyball team's first ever trip to Maryville University resulted in a four-set comeback victory over the hosts on Friday night at Moloney Arena.
With the win, the Knights moved to 7-4 on the season and 3-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference for the fourth time in school history. Bellarmine has never started the conference season with a 4-0 record.
Bailey BredenbeckCorp tied a career high with 43 assists, her second career 40-plus assist output. Her 14 digs and six kills were both career highs, and she ended the evening with an outstanding .857 attack percentage on seven total attacks.
After Maryville (0-12, 0-3 GLVC) scored the first four points to open the match, Bellarmine Head Coach Dan Palmer used an early timeout to try and regain the team's focus. The Saints continued to play sharp, leading by as many as five points at 14-9.
The Knights then embarked on a 10-5 run to take back the set. However, leading 22-20, Bellarmine allowed Maryville to score the next five points, three of which were attack errors, and gave the Saints just their fourth set win of the season.
Bellarmine changed the tide of the match early in the second set, as the team relied on 15 kills and never trailed in a convincing 25-21 victory.
A six-point run in the middle of the third set, highlighted by the serving prowess of Paula Byrns, gave the Knights an 18-10 advantage. The offense continued to hit its stride with five kills in the set's final six points, giving Bellarmine a 25-13 win.
Maryville took the lead at 2-1 in the fourth set, but Bellarmine responded with a 6-2 spurt and seemed to have the match in hand. The Saints refused to go down easily and took a 10-9 lead before the Knights called a timeout.
Following the breather, the two sides exchanged points, tying the game on four more occasions before Bellarmine's Alyson Harmeling threw down consecutive kills, making the score 16-13. Bellarmine never looked back in securing the set and match by a 25-19 margin.
Emily Beckman led all Bellarmine players with 13 kills to lead the balanced attack. Krista Gibson added 12, while Harmeling and Lucy Heidrich finished with nine apiece.
Kaitlan Harris matched BredenbeckCorp with 14 digs, while Kaitlin Young contributed 12 to the victors' cause.
The Knights return home for two games next weekend, starting with Friday night's matchup with Rockhurst University. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Knights Hall.
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