AURORA, Ill.--The Bellarmine volleyball team suffered its first non-conference loss of the season, but bounced back to gain a split on the opening day of the Midwest Region Crossover Tournament being played at the Great Lakes Center.

Bellarmine started the day getting swept by Michigan Tech 25-16, 25-18, 25-22 in the tourney's first session. The loss dropped the Knights to 15-4 on the season while the Huskies improved to 12-6.

The Knights were led by Margaret Horihan with 14 kills  while Abbie Oetting added nine kills while hitting .375.  Setter Allie Muha was Bellarmine's most effective attackers, recording seven kills  while hitting .545.

In the second match of the day, Bellarmine bested the Davenport Panthers 3-1 (28-26, 25-17, 20-25, 25-17).

The Knights again were paced by Horihan, who hit .310 against the Panthers in hammering home 19 kills. Hayden Dailey also hit for double digit kills with 12.  Muha notched 52 assists in the four-set match while libero Jordyn Kuchenbrod led the defense with 34 digs.

The Crossover is the biggest college volleyball tournament in the country with 26 teams competing from three different conferences--Great Lakes Valley, Great Lakes Intercollegiate and Great Midwest.

Bellarmine concludes its 2017 Crossover experience by taking on the GMAC's No. 2 see Hillsdale College at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. CT).  In Friday's action, the Chargers went 2-0 with wins over Ferris State and Tiffin.