CINCINNATI — The Bellarmine volleyball team opened the Xavier tournament on Friday evening, falling in straight sets to the Missouri Tigers.
 
The Knights were competitive the first two sets, dropping 25-17 and 25-20 decisions, but the Tigers found their collective rhythm in final set as they rode a .325 hitting percentage to a 25-14 win to close out the match.
 
"Missouri is a really good team, and I was happy with how we battled the first two sets," said Bellarmine Coach Rick Nold.  "In the end, they wore us down, but it's a situation we will learn from and get better tomorrow."

Bellarmine (2-5) was paced by freshman Natalie Bland with eight kills while senior Bailey Venard turned in an efficient performance with seven kills on just 13 swings with no errors for a .538 hitting percentage.  Senior Macie Garrison handed out 20 of Bellarmine's 26 assists.  On defense, Anna Lococo and Morgan Caba each recorded 11 digs.
 
Missouri (6-2) got 13 kills from Jordan Illif, who was the only player in the match to record double-digit kills. Defensively, Morgan Isenberg notched six assisted blocks while Lauren Forbes registered a match-high 18 digs.
 
The Knights conclude the Xavier tournament on Saturday with a 10 a.m. match against the University of Buffalo and a 7 p.m. match against the host Musketeers.
 
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow BUKnights on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.