INDIANAPOLIS—The Bellarmine volleyball team swept the Wayne State Warriors 3-0 in the opening round of the Midwest Crossover Tournament as the Knights rolled to their fourth straight victory and senior
Jordyn Kuchenbrod cracked the NCAA Division II top 10 for career digs at The Academy Volleyball Center on Friday.
The Knights fell behind early in the first set, but roared back to win the opening frame 25-21 and take control of the match. Bellarmine blew out the Warriors 25-9 in the second set, and then finished strong to take set three 25-22.
Again, the Knights' blocking game showed up in a big way with 10 team blocks as
Izzie Salameh provided assists on six of those blocks.
Senior
Katie Adams, the reigning GLVC Offensive Player of the Week, continued her strong play with 11 kills while hitting .391 and adding a solo block and a block assist.
The highlight of the match could have come early in the third set when Kuchenbrod came up with her 13th dig to enter the NCAA's top 10 for career digs. The Louisville senior finished with 20 digs to send her career total to 2,701, which ranks ninth on the all-time list.
Bellarmine's
Kristen O'Toole notched a double-double with 17 assists and 10 digs while
Jacquie Hornung (eight kills, 10 digs) and
Sam Rickert (11 assists, 7 digs) just missed the accomplishment.
Team statistics show distinct advantages for the Knights in both the attack and service areas of the match. Bellarmine outhit Wayne State .215 to .057, and the Knights recorded six aces with just one service error while the Warriors erred on the serve five times with just one ace.
Bellarmine, the GLVC's No. 8 seed in the tourney, improves to 13-8 overall. Wayne State, GLIAC's No. 5 seed, slips to 11-9.
The Midwest Region Crossover Volleyball Tournament, which is the nation's largest collegiate volleyball tournament held at one venue, features teams competing from three different conferences: Great Lakes Valley (GLVC), Great Lakes Intercollegiate (GLIAC) and Great Midwest (G-MAC).
The Knights will play match two of the Crossover at 5:30 p.m. on Friday against the G-MAC's Malone Pioneers.
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