KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Less than 24 hours from starting their Great Lakes Valley Conference season off to a victorious beginning, the Bellarmine volleyball team is licking its wounds after getting swept twice in matches today.
The Knights started their day with the difficult task of facing No. 13 Rockhurst University in a GLVC match at the Hawks' Mason-Halpin Arena. The home squad lived up to its ranking in taking the 25-16, 25-11, 25-17 victory over the Knights.
On the heels of that match, Bellarmine went back on the same floor and squared off with the Bearcats of Southwest Baptist University. Unfortunately for the Knights, the results were almost the same as SBU also triumphed in straight sets (25-21, 25-12, 25-22).
In the opener, Bellarmine claimed an early 8-6 lead against the nationally-ranked Hawks. The home squad countered with a run of four straight points to take the lead for good in a 25-21 set one victory. The Knights did not enjoy another lead until the third set, when they posted a 4-3 advantage.
Rockhurst (10-1, 2-0 GLVC) hit a solid .385 for the match and had three hitters reach double digit kills (Morgan Rietzke, 12; Preecy Seever, 10; and Katie Loescher, 10). The Knights hit just .042 and were led by
Megan Kimbley's eight kills.
Bellarmine had a promising start against the Bearcats and were ahead 8-5 when SBU went on an 8-0 run to claim control of the set. Although the Knights came back to trim the lead to just one, their four opening set service errors proved too costly as the Bearcats pulled out the 25-21 win.
In set two, Bellarmine scored the first point, but the Bearcats reeled of nine in a row and went to coast to an easy 25-12 win.
Southwest Baptist essentially clinched the match with another run in the third set. After an
Allie Muha kill tied the set at five apiece, the Bearcats used an 8-2 spurt to create the separation they needed to keep the Knights at bay and pull out the 25-22 win.
Bearcat setter Anna Stuehm had a strong night with 32 assists and 10 kills while her teammate Dana Neal led all hitters with 11 kills while hitting .450.
The Knights were led by
Ashley Jefferson's nine kills while
Margaret Horihan added seven and hit .636 for the match.
Bellarmine falls to 6-5 (1-1 GLVC) on the season, while Southwest Baptist records just its second victory in nine games.
The Knights return home for three matches next week. They'll face Truman State at 7 p.m. on Friday before hosting both Quincy and Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday.
BU-ROCKHURST BOX (HTM)BU-SOUTHWEST BAPTIST BOX (HTM)
