AURORA, Ill.—The Bellarmine Knights volleyball team split its opening two matches in the Mizuno Midwest Region Crossover Tournament being played at the Great Lakes Center.
 
In their opener, Bellarmine came agonizingly close to sweeping higher-seeded Ashland, but lost a lead late in the third set, and the Eagles soared all the way back to win in five sets.  The Knights then regrouped and came back in the tournament's third session and swept the Lake Superior State Lakers.
 
The tourney is the nation's largest collegiate volleyball tournament with 36 NCAA Division II programs participating. Sixteen Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) volleyball teams are competing  against 15 institutions representing the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), and five programs from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC).
 
Against Ashland, the No. 11 seed out of the GLIAC, Bellarmine jumped out to an early lead taking the first two sets by the scores of 25-21 and 25-23.  Then late in the third set, the Knights owned a 20-18 advantage, but the Eagles closed out the set to earn a 25-23 win.
 
Ashland continued its strong play in the last two sets picking up 25-17 and 15-11 wins to close out the match. 
 
Bellarmine, which is the No. 13 seed from the GLVC, got a career-high 40 digs from sophomore libero Jordyn Kuchenbrod. However, the Eagles countered with a strong game from Ali Cudworth, who finished with a game-high 20 kills and hit .326.
 
The Knights had four players reach double digit kills with Hayden Dailey leading the way with 16.  Margaret Horihan chipped in 15 with Bridget Guinane adding 12 and Lydia Lange registering 10.
 
Against the Lakers, Bellarmine stayed in command throughout and rolled to a 25-18, 25-15, 25-19 victory.
 
Bellarmine Coach Jenni Grzebin was able to go deep into her bench as 11 different players registered kills in the game, led by Guinane with nine.  Megan Kimbley and Janelle Tobler each recorded seven kills with Katie Adams adding six for the Knights.
 
Kuchenbrod had another solid outing averaging more than seven digs per set with her total of 22 in the match.
 
Junior Allie Muha handled virtually all of the Bellarmine's setting duties on the day, racking up 84 assists in the two matches today.
 
Bellarmine (13-7) completes play in the Crossover Tournament by taking on Ohio Dominican at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. CDT).  The Knights then return to conference play with road games at Indianapolis and St. Joseph's on Oct. 21 and 22.

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