LOUISVILLE, Ky.--The Bellarmine Knights split their final two matches in the Bellarmine Invitational on Saturday in Knights Hall, falling in five sets to Minnesota State before coming back to sweep Tiffin in the final match of the tournament.

In the opener against the Mavericks, Bellarmine bolted out to a quick 2-0 lead, but Minnesota State mounted a comeback to finish the tournament 4-0 and improve to 7-1 on the season. 

The Knights set a torrid pace in the early going, hitting a stellar .476 in the opening set to down the Mavericks 25-20. Bellarmine followed that up with a .333 hitting game to best MSU 25-14.  However, the Knights lost the momentum in the third frame, committing nine attack errors while making just nine kills as the Mavericks pulled away late for a 25-18 victory.  The fourth set was well-played by both squads, but the visitors eked out a 25-23 win to force the fifth set.  Minnesota State stayed on a roll in the deciding game, notching a 15-8 win to secure the match.

Sophomore Julia Dailey led the Knights with 14 kills while freshman Jayme Scott added 12 while swinging at a .357 clip. Other leaders for Bellarmine were Hannah Brown and Abbie Oetting with 11 and 10 kills respectively while Sam Rickert registered 41 assists and a team-high 12 digs.  Minnesota State got 21 kills from Alivia Garbe, who was named most valuable player of the Bellarmine Invitational.

The final match of the tourney sounded like a mythical battle with the Knights and Dragons squaring off.  And luckily for Bellarmine, the volleyball match ended like the mythological stories with the Knights slaying their adversary. 

On the court tonight, the battles were all highly competitive with Bellarmine winning three close games: 25-22, 25-21, 25-22.  The Knights hit .308 for the match with Scott and Dailey leading the way with 15 and 11 kills. Rickert also had another solid outing adding seven kills to along with 41 assists.  Defensively, libero Karleigh Wilson came up with 14 digs while Emily Ernst added 12.

With today's split, Bellarmine finished the tournament 3-1 to finish second behind MSU.  Tiffin ended the weekend 2-2, followed by Virginia State at 1-3 while Christian Brothers went 0-4 in the event.  

A seven-member All-Tournament Team was selected with two Knights earning distinction. The 2019 Bellarmine Invitational All-Tournament Team includes:

Alivia Garbe, Minnesota State (MVP)
Morgan Olson, Minnesota State
Jenna Huffman, Tiffin
Jailyn Ivey, Virginia State
Miaya Smith, Christian Brothers
Sam Rickert, Bellarmine
Jayme Scott, Bellarmine

The Knights return to action on Friday when Bellarmine again will be hosting a tournament.  The Bellarmine Classic will feature six teams with Cedarville, Charleston, Georgia College, Trevecca Nazarene and Truman joining the Knights for the event.  Bellarmine will play all the teams except Truman, whom they will face later in the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season.

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