ASHLAND, Ohio—The Bellarmine University volleyball team split matches for the second consecutive day at the Ashland Invitational on Saturday to finish the tourney 2-2.  After posting a 3-2 win over Shippensburg in the morning, the Knights dropped a 1-3 decision to the host Eagles in the final match of the day.

In the day's opener, Bellarmine raced out to a 2-0 lead (25-19, 25-20), but the Raiders squared the match with 25-18 and 28-26 victories. Shippensburg won the first two points in the decisive fifth set, but the Knights answered with a 5-0 run and never trailed the rest of the way.  Leading 13-11, Bellarmine got kills from Abbie Oetting and Jacquie Hornung to seal the victory.

The five-set match led to a stuffed stat sheet that included a number of career highs. Bailey Roszman's 21 kills led all hitters and established a strong career mark just four matches into her freshman season. Oetting, a sophomore, recorded 18 kills, which eclipsed her best effort as a freshman by five.  Other career highs were recorded by Kristen O'Toole (57 assists and 11 digs), Hornung (25 digs), and Karleigh Wilson (20 digs).

Against Ashland, it looked as if the 5-set match earlier in the day may have affected the Knights' energy level.  Already playing without two players due to injury/illness, the Knights saw the Eagles take an 11-10 lead in the first set and explode to a 25-13 victory. 

Set two, saw virtually a reversal of fortunes with Bellarmine erupting for a 25-14 win after the game was tied at 11 apiece.

The Knights simply could not sustain the momentum, and Ashland closed out their visitors with 25-16 and 25-18 victories. The Eagles finished the tourney 4-0.

Neither team hit with much efficiency as Ashland posted a .140 attack percentage while the Knights were barely on the positive side at .013.  Bellarmine committed 35 attack errors and recorded just 37 kills. Of the four Knights with more than one kill, only Roszman had a positive hitting percentage at .190 while totaling 15 kills.

Defensively, four Knights reached double digits in digs: Jordyn Kuchenbrod, 28; Hornung, 14; Wilson, 12; and Abby Schlaug, 10.

Bellarmine makes its home debut on Friday when it hosts the "Bellarmine Kickoff Classic." The Knights open with West Virginia Wesleyan in a 2 p.m. match and will come back at 7 p.m. to face the University of West Alabama.

HTM BOX SCORE (Shippensburg)

HTM BOX SCORE (Ashland)