NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Bellarmine volleyball team fell in its ASUN Conference opener on Friday afternoon, dropping a five-set decision (23-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-14, 7-15) to the Liberty Flames in a neutral site match at Lipscomb University's Allen Arena.
 
As the set scores indicate, the match was a see-saw affair that saw dramatic shifts in momentum. In the end, the teams simply swapped sets, and unfortunately for the Knights, the pendulum was swinging in favor of the Flames in the decisive fifth set.
 
The opening game was close throughout with a pivotal moment coming on a call reversal after video review that gave Liberty an 18-15 edge rather than allowing Bellarmine to creep within a point.  The 3-point edge was just enough for the Flames to pull out a 25-23 win.
 
Set No. 2 was the high-water mark for the Knights as they saw the team hitting percentage climb to as high as .542 after a kill by Chrysanthi Stamatiou gave Bellarmine a 24-16 edge.   The Knights concluded the set with a .429 attack percentage as they took a convincing 25-18 win.
 
However, the momentum swung back to Liberty as the Flames jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the third set.  Bellarmine simply couldn't recover with Liberty taking a six-point victory, 25-19.
 
Again, the Knights responded to the set loss by finding their collective stride and hitting at a .357 clip to square the match with a 25-14 win in the fourth.
 
Set five saw the momentum shift once more as Liberty sprinted to a 6-1 lead.  Although Bellarmine climbed to within 8-6, the Flames caught fire again and closed out the match with a 7-1 run to take set five 15-7.
 
Liberty's Kate Phillips was the match leader with 17 kills, and she added 14 digs to post a double-double.
 
The Knights, meanwhile, got several solid individual performances including double-doubles by three different players.  Jayme Scott recorded 15 kills and 15 digs; Stamatiou added 11 digs to her 14 kills; and setter Emily Arnold posted 36 assists and 14 digs.
 
Bailey Venard was the Knights' kills leader with 16 while Anna Lococo tied Scott for team-high honors in digs with 15.
 
Bellarmine is back in action tomorrow as the ASUN Crossover continues at Lipscomb's Allen Arena.  The Knights face Florida Gulf Coast University at 4 p.m. (3 p.m. CT).
 
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