LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine volleyball team closed its 2019 regular season with an emphatic 3-0 victory over visiting Southwest Baptist University in Knights Hall on Saturday afternoon.
 
The victory over the Great Lakes Valley Conference newcomer gave the Knights their 20 th win of the season to make it three straight years Bellarmine has notched at least 20 wins—a first in program history.
 
Bellarmine jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead in the first set, but the Bearcats called a timeout and regrouped, closing the gap to just two points at 8-6.  However, the Knights never surrendered the lead and went on to post a 25-12 victory.
 
Set two played out in similar fashion as the first. The Knights established a 5-1 advantage only to see the Bearcats trim the margin to just two at 6-4.  Again, the Knights held on the lead and went on to gradually extend their advantage and win by the same 25-12 score.
 
The script in third set was a bit different in that the Knights started strong and just kept the momentum rolling as they coasted to 25-6 win.
 
Freshman outside Jayme Scott turned in another solid performance, leading all hitters with 18 kills while hitting .382.  Junior middle hitter Izzie Salameh also was highly effective for the Knights, notching nine kills and hitting .471. 
 
The Bellarmine defense recorded eight blocks in the three-setter with Julia Dailey credited with one solo rejection and four block assists. Libero Karleigh Wilson was the only player in the match to record double digit digs, coming up with 11 for the Knights.
 
Team statistics showed just how decisive the victory was for Bellarmine.  The Knights hit .456 as a team while SBU registered more attack errors than kills and finished with a negative hitting percentage. Other team figures showed significant advantages for the Knights:  kills (50-16), digs (47-23), and blocks (8-3).
 
Bellarmine closes the 2019 regular season with a 20-10 mark with 10-5 record in league play. Southwest Baptist closes its season 4-27, 0-15 GLVC.
 
Prior to the match, the Knights held senior day activities to honor manager Sarah Garcia, the lone senior on the 2019 team.
 
Next up for the Knights is a trip to the GLVC Championship, where they'll be the No. 6 seed in the eight-team field. Bellarmine's opening round opponent will be determined later today based on results elsewhere in the conference.  The tourney will be held in East Peoria, Illinois on Nov. 22-24.
 
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