EDINBORO, Pa.—The Bellarmine Knights volleyball team chalked up two more victories on day two to finish a perfect 4-0 in the Rebich Investments Invitational hosted by Edinboro University. In Saturday's action, Bellarmine bested Walsh in four sets before bouncing the host Fighting Scots in a five-set affair.
After the tournament, Bellarmine freshman
Abbie Oetting was named Most Valuable Player while senior
Margaret Horihan and junior
Jordyn Kuchenbrod also earned "All-Tournament Team" honors.
Oetting rang up 45 kills in her four matches, averaging three per set, and hit at a .353 clip. She also was a force on defense, compiling five solo blocks and 15 assisted blocks. Horihan also posted impressive numbers with 49 kills and six service aces while adding 45 digs. Kuchenbrod, meanwhile, picked up where she left off last year by digging nearly every ball in sight. Over the four tournament matches, she averaged 7.27 digs per set while totaling 109 in the tourney.
In the opening match on Saturday, the Knights turned back Walsh 25-17, 16-25, 25-14, 25-23. Bellarmine posted a team attack percentage of .322 while holding the Cavaliers to just .182, thanks in large part to 28 team blocks from the Knights. The block party was led by
Lydia Lange with three solo blocks and nine assisted blocks while Oetting added three and five respectively.
Offensively, Lange was equally impressive registering seven kills in just eight attacks. Oetting led the Knights with 13 kills while Horihan recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 17 digs. Setter
Allie Muha also had a double-double—her second of the tourney with 19 assists and 13 digs.
Kuchenbrod came up with a match-high 31 digs, and
Hayden Dailey added 24 for the Knights.
In the second match of the day, Bellarmine took on the host Edinboro Fighting Scots, who also entered the contest 3-0 on the season after making the NCAA field a year ago.
As expected, the match was close, but the Knights rallied from a 2-1 deficit to prevail 25-22, 19-25, 24-26, 25-14, 15-13.
Horihan and Dailey were the offensive leaders with 18 and 13 kills respectively. Lange and Oetting also reached double digits with 11 kills each. Muha notched another double-double (51 assists, 12 digs) as did Horihan (18 kills, 16 digs).
Kuchenbrod again posted a match high in digs with 32 while Oetting had a pair of solo blocks and assisted on five more.
The Knights return home to host their own tournament on Sept. 8 and 9. Bellarmine will square off against West Georgia and Tiffin on Friday and host Arkansas-Ft. Smith and Trevecca Nazarene on Saturday.
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