LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Much like a thoroughbred racehorse that stumbles out of the starting gate but finds its stride midrace and thunders past the competition, the Bellarmine volleyball team shook off a shaky start and rolled to a 3-1 victory over Eastern Kentucky in an ASUN Conference match in Knights Hall on Saturday afternoon.
 
After dropping the opening set 20-25, Bellarmine found itself trailing 16-20 in the second game but rallied with a 9-2 scoring run to capture a 25-22 win.  From there, the Knights were simply dominant, taking the final two sets 25-10, 25-14.
 
Of the match's final 85 points, Bellarmine owned a 59-26 advantage as the Knights held the Colonels to a negative hitting percentage the final two sets. At the same time, Bellarmine was swinging with much confidence and finished with a .318 attack percentage—the best of the season for the Knights.
 
Individually, Bailey Roszman put up perhaps the best numbers. The Louisville senior rang up a match-high 16 kills while swinging at a .556 clip and adding four assisted blocks.
 
There were a number of impressive stat lines for the Knights. Junior Jayme Scott turned in her 10th double-double of the season with 14 kills and 17 digs. Sophomore libero Anna Lococo matched Scott's 17 digs for tie for match-high honors, and she added three service aces to help the Bellarmine offense. Emily Arnold handed out 46 assists, the most she's doled out in a 4-set match for Bellarmine.
 
In addition, a pair of freshmen had laudable performances for the Knights. Seville Gates hit .333 while hammering home 11 kills and registering five block assists. Ashley Nordmann, who was playing for the first time in Knights Hall after starting the year sidelined with an injury, also added five assisted blocks to go along with five kills, two service aces and seven digs.
 
For Eastern Kentucky, sophomores Molly Michalak and Sara Mitchell were the team leaders. Michalak paced the Colonel attack with 13 kills while Mitchell added 12 and tied Scott and Lococo for match-high honors with 17 digs.
 
Bellarmine enjoyed advantages in virtually all team statistics. The Knights outhit the Colonels .318 to .135, outdug EKU 67-55 and outblocked them 9.5 to 3. In the service game, Bellarmine held a 6-2 edge in aces.
 
With the win, Bellarmine improves to 6-14, 2-6 ASUN.  Eastern falls to 6-16, 3-5 ASUN.
 
Saturday's match was Bellarmine's only competition of the week. The Knights head to Florida next week to compete in the second ASUN Crossover. Bellarmine faces the University of North Florida on Friday, Kennesaw State on Saturday, and Stetson on Sunday. All matches will be played in Jacksonville at the UNF Arena.
 
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