CLARION, Pa.—The Bellarmine volleyball team opened the 2019 regular season by sweeping the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown and Davenport at the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament hosted by Clarion University on Friday.
 
The win over UPJ in the morning match was career coaching victory number 100 for Bellarmine Coach Jenni Grzebin, who is beginning her seventh season at Bellarmine.
 
In the first match of the day at 9 a.m., the Knights jumped out to a quick lead in all three sets and hung on for wins to complete the sweep (25-20, 25-22, 25-20) over the Mountain Cats.  Bellarmine trailed only briefly in the second set, but went "wire-to-wire" in sets one and three to win its season opener.
 
Freshman Jayme Scott made an impressive collegiate debut by leading the Knights in both kills (16) and digs (14).  The Mercy Academy graduate swung at a .455 clip to help the team to a .291 hitting percentage for the match. Other top hitters for Bellarmine included Bailey Roszman with nine kills while Izzie Salameh and Abbie Oetting contributed seven and six respectively.
 
Junior setter Kristen O'Toole doled out 35 assists for the Knights while libero Karleigh Wilson notched 11 digs.
 
Bellarmine enjoyed advantages in most phases of the game, but serving was a distinct edge for the Knights. Pitt-Johnstown committed 13 service errors while collecting just three aces while Bellarmine tallied one more ace with just three errors.
 
The Knights came back in the 5 p.m. match and picked up where they left off by getting out to a quick lead over Davenport in the opening set and never trailed in posting the 25-18 win.  The second set tested Bellarmine as the Knights had to battle back from a 21-20 deficit to pull out the narrow 25-23 victory.  In the final set, the Knights broke open a 6-6 tie with a 7-0 run capped by a pair of Emily Ernst service aces and went on to roll to a 25-16 win to complete the sweep.
 
Roszman paced Bellarmine with 11 kills and picked up a double-double by also collecting 11 digs.  Scott, meanwhile, tacked on her second double-double (kills and digs) of the day with 10 in each category. 
 
While Roszman and Scott were the only hitters in double digits, the Bellarmine offense showed great balance and efficiency. Oetting and Salemeh finished with eight kills apiece while Julia Dailey added seven, and the team posted a .333 hitting percentage. O'Toole turned in a great performance with 41 assists in just three sets, and Wilson led Bellarmine with 13 digs.
 
The Knights complete play in the tourney with a pair of matches tomorrow.  Bellarmine faces host Clarion at 1 p.m. with a 5 p.m. match against Saginaw Valley.
 
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HTM BOX SCORE (UPJ)

HTM BOX SCORE (Davenport)