LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Down two sets to none, the Bellarmine volleyball team clawed back to even the score 2-2 and force a fifth set only to see the visiting Liberty Flames close with a 15-9 win for a 3-2 match victory in an ASUN Conference contest in Knights Hall on Friday night.
 
The visiting Flames, who are in second place in the league standings, opened the match in impressive fashion, claiming 25-14, 25-17 wins as they amassed 17 kills without a single attack error.  However, the Knights never quit, and with the score tied 23-23 in the third, senior Carissa Reyes registered back-to-back service aces to extend the match.
 
The Knights maintained that momentum in the fourth set, jumping out to a 5-2 lead.  Although Liberty was able to fight back to grab a 10-9 edge, Bellarmine regained its spark and pulled out to an 18-13 advantage before holding off the Flames 25-22 to force the decisive fifth set.
 
In the final frame, Liberty got the early advantage, spurting out to a 6-2 lead, and the Knights couldn't recover.  The Flames again posted no attack errors in the set and rolled to a 15-9 win.
 
"I loved the way we battled after getting down early," said Bellarmine Coach Rick Nold. "I thought our aggressive serve got us back in the game and gave us a chance to win.  In the end, they just made a few more plays than we did."
 
The Bellarmine service game was indeed special tonight as the Knights registered 15 aces—the most by a Bellarmine team since computer statistics began being used in 2007.
 
Freshman Kylie VanHoy led the way with a career-high four aces while Reyes, Anna Lococo and Tessa Nauert all recorded three.  Emily Ernst had the other two aces for the Knights.
 
In addition to being hot behind the service line, VanHoy turned in perhaps her best overall collegiate performance.  She chalked up her first career double-double, notching a career-high 17 kills and adding 10 digs and two blocks on defense.  In all, she totaled 22 points on the night.
 
Senior Jayme Scott also was highly effective for the Knights, recording 15 kills while hitting at a .433 clip.  Junior Bailey Venard gave Bellarmine three hitters in double digit kills by totaling 11 against the Flames.  
 
However, it was Liberty that recorded the most eye-popping numbers on offense by hitting .388 while making just 12 errors in 134 total attacks.  Individually, Lydia Burts led the way for the Flames with 19 kills and a .621 attack percentage.
 
Bellarmine slips to 7-10 on the season with a 1-4 mark in ASUN play while Liberty improves to 11-6, 4-1 ASUN.
 
The Knights are back in action Saturday at 2 p.m. when they host Queens University of Charlotte at Knights Hall.  The Royals (5-13, 0-5 ASUN) were swept in today's match at Eastern Kentucky.