BOONE, N.C.—The Bellarmine volleyball team completed play in the Mountaineer Classic hosted by Appalachian State University with a 3-1 loss to William & Mary on Saturday in the Holmes Convocation Center. 
 
William & Mary opened the match with a 25-18 win in the first set, but Bellarmine flipped the script on the Tribe by taking the second stanza by the same 25-18 score.  In the third set, William & Mary jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead, but the Knights rallied to tie it at six apiece. Bellarmine never managed to take a lead and William slowly built more separation and went to post the 25-20 win.  In what was the decisive fourth set, the Tribe notched the first two points, and again, the Knights couldn't wrestle the lead away.  A 5-0 run midway through the set provided William & Mary with the separation needed, and the Tribe went on to close out the match with another 25-18 win.
 
"We didn't get the results we wanted," said Bellarmine Coach Rick Nold, "but I loved seeing the growth from match to match.  We were down a bunch of people for medical reasons, but we worked through and battled the whole way."
 
The Knights got another strong performance from freshman Natalie Bland, who led all hitters with 15 kills while adding eight digs and four blocks defensively. Senior Bailey Venard also was a strong offensive weapon for the Knights, ringing up 11 kills while hitting at a .364 clip.  Mara Perry and Macie Garrison split the setting duties, racking up 20 and 15 assists respectively. 
 
On the defensive end, senior libero Anna Lococo chalked up a match-high 16 digs while freshman Maddie Hagan matched Bland with four blocks.
 
Team stats show that Bellarmine owned slight advantages in both digs (51-44) and blocks (10-8).  However, the Tribe made up for it on the offensive end winning the service game with a 12-7 edge in aces and recording two more kills than the Knights (47-45).
 
Bellarmine's next action comes when the Knights host their own multi-team event, the 2023 Bellarmine Volleyball Classic on Sept. 1 and 2.  Similar to Appalachian State's event, Bellarmine's tourney will feature four matches on Friday and two on Saturday.  The Knights' matches on Friday will come at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m. against New Orleans and Southern Indiana.  Bellarmine will wrap up the tourney on Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. match against Murray State.
 
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