NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Bellarmine University volleyball team opened play in the Scott Jones Memorial Tournament hosted by Trevecca Nazarene today by winning a four-set match (25-20, 25-23, 22-25, 25-19) against Oakland City before dropping a five-set decision (25-23, 22-25, 28-26, 19-25, 10-15) to Embry Riddle (Fla.).
In the opener, the Knights had a balanced attack with four players registering double digit kills, led by
Margaret Horihan's 14 with
Megan Kimbley adding 12 and
Bridget Guinane and
Aurryella Mason contributing 11 apiece. Defensively, freshman libero
Jordyn Kuchenbrod continued her solid start to the year with 27 digs.
Oakland City was led by Tya Harmon, who led all hitters with 15 kills.
The second match saw the Knights take a 2-1 advantage with a dramatic 28-26 win in the third set, but Embry Riddle rallied to win the last two to claim the match and remain undefeated.
Again Bellarmine saw four players reach double digit kills (Mason, 14; Kimbley, 13;
Katie Adams, 12; and Horihan, 10). However, the Knights only managed a hitting percentage of .115 as Embry Riddle recorded 15 blocks in the match.
Setter
Allie Muha (48 assists, 10 digs) and Mason (14 kills, 13 digs) registered double-doubles for the Knights, and Kuchenbrod reached 30 digs in a match for the second time in her brief college career.
The Eagles got a huge lift from Evelina Abdurakhmanova, who put away 26 kills while hitting at a .431 clip.
Bellarmine, which now stands 3-3, faces host Trevecca Nazarene tomorrow (Saturday) at 3 p.m. (EDT) in their final match of the tournament.
