LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine volleyball team embarks on its final week of play with a road match at Queens University of Charlotte on Friday at 4 p.m. before returning to host Liberty in a senior day match at Knights Hall on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Knights have already played both teams, falling in five sets to the Liberty Flames while sweeping the Royals in back-to-back matches on Oct. 7 and 8.
Since those meetings, Queens and Liberty have gone in different directions. While Liberty sits atop the ASUN Conference standings with a 12-2 mark, Queens is in last place at 1-13 in league play.
The Royals (6-21 overall) are in their first year transitioning to Division I after being DII members of the South Atlantic Conference. In the first match with Bellarmine, Alleigh Johnson was the Queens offensive leader with 16 kills. Being the offensive leader is a familiar role for Johnson as she leads the team in kills per set with a 3.25 average, which ranks seventh in the league. Defensive leaders for the Royals are Anna Law with 47 blocks and Jesse George with 329 digs.
Liberty (19-7 overall) enters play on Friday winners of their last eight contests. The Flames are particularly lethal on the defensive side of the net where they turn defense into offense by way of the block. As a team, Liberty leads the conference in blocking, averaging 2.71 per set. Individually, Liberty players rank 1-2 in the league's blocking category with Lydia Burts averaging 1.24 blocks per set and Madison Blaine right on her heels at 1.21 blocks/set.
The Flames' offense also is among the best the ASUN has to offer. Setter Delaney Dilfer is handing out a league-best 11.04 assists per set to help Liberty rank first in kills at 13.78 per set. Individually, outside hitters Kamryn Bacus and Trinity Watts pace the offense with 3.14 and 3.09 kills per set respectively.
The Knights (10-16, 4-10) continue to be led by
Jayme Scott offensively. The senior outside hitter ranks second in the ASUN in total kills and kills per set (357 and 4.10). Senior setter
Emily Arnold is among the league leaders in assists, ranking seventh with a 9.5 per set average. Defensively,
Anna Lococo is eighth in the ASUN at 4.15 digs per set.
Bellarmine will say goodbye to six seniors prior to Sunday's match with Arnold,
Hannah Brown,
Sydney Colvin,
Emily Ernst,
Carissa Reyes, and Scott all making their final appearance at Knights Hall.
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights), Facebook (BUKnights)