LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Bellarmine University volleyball team embarks on its longest road trip this weekend, traveling to Nashville and Clarksville, Tn. for bouts with Lipscomb and Austin Peay, the first of four straight matches in enemy territory.
 
The Knights will first take on the Lipscomb Bisons in Allen Arena on Friday, November 1 at 7 p.m. ET before facing off with the Austin Peay Governors on Saturday, November 2 at 5 p.m. ET in the Winfield Dunn Center.
 
Last weekend, Bellarmine dropped both of its matches 3-0 to North Florida and Jacksonville. Sophomore Natalie Bland led the Knights with 24 kills, recording 4.00 kills per set. She also turned in 15 digs, two assists and two aces on the weekend. Against Jacksonville, Bland registered her team-high tying eighth double-double of the year with 11 kills and 11 digs. Seniors Addison Foote and Anna Purichia were the only other Knights to reach double-digit kills, tallying 17 and 14 respectively. Grad student led in both assists and digs, tallying 31 and 23 respectively. Perry took over the setter duties against Jacksonville after junior Kylie Van Hoy went down with an injury to start the third set against North Florida. Freshman Payton Parsons tied Perry for the team-high digs with 23. At the net, sophomore Erika Smith continued her impressive play, recording six blocks as she extending her streak to seven consecutive matches with a rejection.
 
On the season, Bland leads Bellarmine with 271 kills, recording 3.87 per set, and ranks fourth with 169 digs, adding 15 assists, 13 blocks and nine aces. Four other Knights have eclipsed the 100+ kills mark in Foote (145), Smith (129), sophomore Maddie Hagan (118) and Purichia (114). Van Hoy has paced the offense all season, recording 644 assists this far while also contributing across the court with 173 digs (third most), 19 blocks (fourth most), 89 kills and 19 aces (a team-high). Defensively, Perry leads the team with 274 digs, registering 3.75 per set. Another four Knights follow her with 160+ digs each in Parsons (224), Van Hoy, Bland and junior Tessa Nauert (161). At the net, Smith leads the charge with 40 blocks, followed by senior Jayda Harris with 32 and Hagan with 20.
 
In the ASUN, Bland ranks as one the best in the league in attacks per set (second, 10.60), kills per set (third, 3.87), points per set (fifth, 4.12) and total kills (seventh, 271). Van Hoy has been one of the best setters in the conference this season, ranking fourth in assists per set (9.20) and seventh in total assists. Perry's consistent nature on defense lands her at 10^th in the league in total digs. As a team, Bellarmine leads the ASUN and ranks 24^th in the nation in attacks per set with 37.64.
 
Bellarmine and Lipscomb face off for the second time this season and the 11^th time in series history. The Knights have yet to beat the Bisons, owning an 0-11 record all-time. In their earlier meeting this season, the teams played a full five sets with Lipscomb pulling out a 3-2 win. Bellarmine and Austin Peay will also meet for the second time this season, and the fifth time in series history. The Knights hold a 3-2 all-time advantage over the Governors having won each of the last three matchups, including a 3-0 sweep this year.
 
About the Bisons
Lipscomb is off to an 11-10 start to the season and is 8-2 in ASUN conference play. The Bisons rank as the third best team in the conference entering the week and are winners of three of their last four matches, their most recent victory being a sweep of Stetson last weekend. Lipscomb's two conference losses have come against Florida Gulf Coast and Central Arkansas, the first and second ranked teams in the league, respectively. The Bisons feature five players with 135+ kills on the season and are led by junior Courtney Jones with 250. Jones also leads the team with 33 aces while also contributing 105 digs and 20 blocks. In the ASUN, she ranks among league leaders in aces per set (third, 0.45), total aces (fourth), kills per set (seventh, 3.38) and points per set (seventh, 3.97). Behind Jones in both kills and aces is grad student Karlie McNabb with 178 kills and 25 aces. McNabb also ranks third on the team with 168 digs. Fellow grad student Meg Mersman has excelled on both sides of the net, ranking third on the team in kills with 175 and first with a whopping 90 blocks. Mersman, an ASUN Defensive Player of the Week honoree (9/30), ranks second in the conference in both total blocks and blocks per set (1.13) Senior Addi Pelhma and junior Berkley Mischler round out Lipscomb's top hitters with 142 and 138 kills, respectively. Junior Sophia Hudephol, an ASUN Setter of the Week honoree (10/7), paces the offense with 757 assists and ranks second on the team with 181 digs and third with 24 aces. Hudephol ranks second in the league in assists per set (9.46) and third in total assists. Defensively, senior Libby Steinhart, also an ASUN Defensive Player of the Week honoree (10/7) for the Bisons, leads the team with 233 digs, good for 3.07 per set. As a team, Lipscomb ranks second in the conference in aces per set (1.84), hitting percentage (.243) and total aces (147).
 
About the Governors
Austin Peay is just 1-21 overall this season and is 0-10 in ASUN action. The Governors are the lone winless team in conference play and enter the week on a 19-match losing streak with their lone win coming against Mississippi Valley State on August 30. On Wednesday, Austin Peay made the decision to change the leadership of the volleyball team, dismissing long-time head coach Taylor Mott. Mott led the program for 13 seasons. Assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Connor Crawford will serve as the Governors' interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Austin Peay will face off against Eastern Kentucky on Friday night before its bout with Bellarmine on Saturday. The Governors offense features four players with 130+ kills, led by junior Sarah Carnathan with 190. Carnathan also ranks fourth on the team in both digs and blocks, registering 112 and 35, respectively. Behind her, junior Payton Deidsheimer ranks second on the team with 169 kills and 46 blocks. Sophomore Anna Rita leads the Governors with 71 blocks and ranks third in kills with 135. Rita ranks fourth in the conference in blocks per set with 1.03. Senior Gabriella MacKenzie rounds out the team's top hitters with 131 kills. Austin Peay runs its offense through setting duo freshman Kayleigh Ryan and sophomore Maggie Duyos. Ryan leads the pair with 321 assists, 4.17 per set, while Duyos has tallied 307, 3.94 per set. Duyos ranks second on the team with 145 digs with Ryan in third with 125. The team's defensive effort is led by freshman Taylor Baron who has recorded 369 digs on the season. Baron ranks third in the ASUN in digs per set with 4.73 and fourth in total digs.