LOUISVILLE, Ky.—After a highly successful homestand, the Bellarmine volleyball must hit the road for its next four Atlantic Sun Conference contests starting with matches this Friday and Saturday in the "Volunteer State" as the Knights visit Austin Peay and Lipscomb.
 
Bellarmine has reeled off three victories in a row, all coming in Knights Hall, knocking off ASUN foes Queens, Central Arkansas and North Alabama to improve to 3-1 in the conference and 5-11 overall.
 
Leading the charge for the Knights has been sophomore Kylie VanHoy, who has seen her setting duties increase while continuing to be one of the team's primary attack weapons.  Last week in the Central Arkansas match, she struck for an impressive double-double with a career-high 21 kills while handing out 26 assists.
 
Freshman Natalie Bland also has continued her strong play and picked up her second ASUN Freshman of the Week accolade on Monday.  She enters the week leading the Knights in kills with 152 (2.81 per set) and is second in digs with 118 (2.19 per set). Continuing her successful senior campaign is Bailey Venard, who ranks second on the team with 147 kills (2.72 per set).
 
On defense, senior Anna Lococo comes in as one the league's leading liberos, ranking fourth in the ASUN with a digs per set average of 4.41. Freshman Maddie Hagan is the team's leading blocker with a 0.91 blocks per set average, which ranks ninth in the ASUN.
 
Friday's opponent, Austin Peay, is 9-8 overall and 2-2 in ASUN play.  The Governors feature the league's most prolific hitter in Mikayla Powell, who tops the ASUN in total kills (250) and kills per set (3.79).   Kelsey Mead runs the offense for APSU and ranks fifth in the conference in assists per set at 8.23.
 
The Governors feature a stout block on defense where both Maggie Keenan and Anna Rita rank among the ASUN leaders in blocks per set.  Overall, the team ranks fourth in the ASUN with a 2.16 blocks per set average.  Mead is also a factor on defense, tied for team lead with Kalliann Cook for digs with 195 for a 2.95 per set average.
 
On Saturday, Bellarmine faces another stiff challenge at Lipscomb as the Bisons start the week tied atop the conference standings at 4-0 with an overall mark of 9-5.  Jada DiVita and Meg Mersman lead the Lipscomb hitters averaging 2.92 and 2.34 kills per set with reigning ASUN Setter of the Week Sophia Huepohl dishing out 9.36 assists per set.  The Bisons also boast the league leader in service aces where Delaney Smith, a high school teammate of Venard, has amassed 29 on the season for a 0.55 per set average.
 
The Lipscomb defense also is very solid.  Mersman ranks fifth in the league with 1.06 blocks per set and, as a team, the Bisons are fifth in blocks at 2.09 per set.  Smith leads the Bisons' back row with an average of 3.68 digs per set.
 
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow BUKnights on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.