ROMEOVILLE, Ill.—A courageous comeback bid came up short as the Bellarmine Knights volleyball team saw its historic season end with a 3-1 loss to Rockhurst in the opening round of the NCAA Championship Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Lewis University's Neil Carey Arena.
The third-seeded Hawks got off to a fast start, taking the opening two sets 25-14, 25-20 as they outhit the Knights .314 to .192 over the first half of the match.
Rockhurst then proceeded to open up a 4-0 lead in the third set. However, Bellarmine battled back and turned the tables on the Hawks, going up 17-11 before settling for a 25-22 set three victory.
In the final set, Rockhurst was in control most of the way, but again the Knights turned in a comeback effort, erasing a five-point deficit to tie the score at 23-23. The Hawks managed to regroup and claim the final two points and the match with a 25-23 set four victory.
Bellarmine senior
Margaret Horihan ended her stellar career with another solid performance swinging for a match-high 20 kills while adding nine digs. Fellow senior
Allie Muha also finished with strong numbers, securing a double-double with 44 assists and 16 digs.
Karli Reichert led the Hawks with 19 kills while Alyssa Woodman added 11 kills and 13 digs. Rockhurst improves to 29-7 on the year and advances to face the Hillsdale-Findlay in tomorrow's NCAA Midwest Region semifinals.
Rockhurst ended today's match outhitting the Knights .258 to .217, owning a 9-6 edge in team blocks, and holding a 60-57 advantage in kills while BU outdug the Hawks 66-64.
Bellarmine, which was the No. 6 seed in the Midwest Region, finishes the 2017 campaign with a 23-9 record and the first NCAA appearance in school history. The Knights' winning percentage of .718 ranks as best in program history, eclipsing the .714 mark established by the 1998 squad.
Another piece of Bellarmine volleyball history was made today as junior libero
Jordyn Kuchenbrod broke the school record for digs in career. With 22 today, Kuchenbrod raised her career total to 2,204 to become the first Knight to surpass the 2,200-dig plateau. Former Bellarmine great Jaclyn Ohlmann set the old mark with 2,197 digs during her career which spanned from 2011 to 2014.
Horihan and Muha also have etched their names in the Bellarmine Volleyball Record Book. Horihan finishes her career as the all-time leader in assisted blocks with 206 and ranks No. 7 on the all-time kills list with 1,421. Muha ends up No. 2 on the Bellarmine assists list with 4,275, and she finished tied for 11th on BU's list for career digs with 1,084.
Today's match also signaled the end of the Bellarmine careers of seniors
Hayden Dailey (788 kills, 1041 digs),
Bridget Guinane (489 kills, 198 total blocks) and
Megan Kimbley (438 kills, 64 total blocks).
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