CONWAY, Ark.—For the Bellarmine University Knights, it was one of those what "could have been" contests as the host Sugar Bears of Central Arkansas took a 3-0 sweep of the BU volleyball team in an AUN Conference match at the Prince Center on Sunday afternoon.
The match started in Bellarmine's favor, and the Knights looked to be on a roll as they took an 18-15 advantage in set one. However, Bellarmine ended up losing the 18th point due to a "serving out of turn" violation. Instead of a three-point advantage, it was a slim 17-16 edge for the Knights, and following a lengthy delay to sort out the details, momentum clearly shifted to Central Arkansas.
The Bears (4-11, 2-4 ASUN) took advantage of the momentum shift and turned the set around, and after staving off a Bellarmine set point, went on to post a 28-26 victory.
The host team then pulled out to a 7-3 lead in the second set, eventually building an eight-point bulge at 19-11. Although the Knights made a comeback, it was too little, too late as UCA held on for a 25-22 win.
The final set played out similarly to the second in that the Sugar Bears grabbed an early lead and the Knights came fighting back. This time, Bellarmine—once down by as many as five—fought back to pull even at 22 apiece only to see Central Arkansas answer and claim a 25-23 set three victory and pick up the match sweep.
The Knights (5-14, 1-6 ASUN) finished the match with a 49-43 advantage in kills, but the Central Arkansas front line put up 15 team blocks in the match to make up the difference and limit Bellarmine to a .153 hitting percentage.
Jayme Scott paced the Bellarmine offense and led all hitters with 15 kills. The Louisville junior also notched 12 digs to post her ninth double-double of the year.
Seville Gates also had a solid effort with 14 kills on the day with
Emily Arnold dishing out 38 assists.
Alexis Stumbough was the only Sugar Bear in double-digit kills, totaling 14 for the home team. Macy Blackburn also made her presence felt at the net for UCA tallying nine blocks and six kills.
Both liberos also had good numbers. Lexie Gregory of UCA came up with 19 digs while
Anna Lococo had 16 for the Knights.
Bellarmine gets a bit of a break with only one match scheduled for the upcoming week, a Saturday contest at home against Eastern Kentucky.
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights) and Facebook (BUKnights).
