LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine volleyball team fell to the visiting Lipscomb Bisons 20-25, 16-25, 25-23, 21-25 on Saturday afternoon in an ASUN Conference match in Knights Hall.
After Lipscomb enjoyed close, but comfortable margins throughout the first set, the Bisons jumped out to an 8-2 lead and cruised to a nine-point victory in set two. However, the Knights never gave up, and battled back for a 25-23 win in set three before Lipscomb re-established the momentum and closed with a 25-21 set four victory.
"We've said all season long that if we are the more aggressive team, then we like our chances," said Bellarmine Coach
Rick Nold. "The first two sets we were a little bit tentative, but I love the way we battled back in set three. We just need to learn from that and come back stronger next week."
The Bisons (5-8, 2-0 ASUN) prepped for the conference season by playing six opponents that were nationally ranked or receiving votes, and that experience showed as they outhit the Knights .244 to .105 while "outkilling" the home team 59-42.
Lipscomb's top three hitters all reached double figures in kills while hitting over .300. Caroline Stogner and Jade DaVita each chalked up 16 kills to tie Bellarmine's
Jayme Scott for match-high honors. Scott was the lone Bellarmine hitter in double-digit kills with
Hannah Brown and
Bailey Venard adding nine and eight respectively.
On defense, Bellarmine libero
Anna Lococo turned in another solid effort, recording a match-high 21 digs to help stake the Knights to a 64-59 dig advantage with
Morgan Caba and
Emily Ernst contributing 11 digs apiece. Lipscomb held an 11-7 advantage in blocks with Berkley Mischler tallying five assisted blocks for the Bisons.
Jayda Harris,
Kylie VanHoy, and Scott led the Knights with three blocks each.
Bellarmine (6-8, 0-2 ASUN) goes on the road for its next two matches. On Friday, they'll play at North Alabama and on Sunday, they'll visit Central Arkansas.
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