RICHMOND, Ky. – A trio of Knights registered 13 kills in the match, urging the Bellarmine volleyball team to fight to the final point, but the effort was not enough as the Knights fell 3-1 to Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday night at the EKU Olympic Sports Training Center.
 
With the loss, Bellarmine moves to 6-17 on the season, 3-10 in ASUN conference action while the win improves Eastern Kentucky to 18-8 on the year, 9-4 in league play.
 
In what was an up and down affair for the Knights, the first set was all EKU. The Colonels opened the game with a 4-1 and 5-0 run to jolt out to a 10-3 lead. With Bellarmine only able to string a few points together at a time, Eastern Kentucky made quick work of the first set, winning 25-12. The second set, however, saw a completely different Bellarmine team on the court. After the Colonels opened with the first two points, the Knights scored three straight to take their first lead at 4-3. From there, the teams traded points until Bellarmine turned in a 5-1 run to jump in front 12-10 and force EKU to call a timeout. The Colonels didn't stay down long, scoring three of the first four points out of the break to even the score 13-13. Down one at 16-15, Bellarmine rattled off four unanswered points to regain the lead at 19-16. Eastern Kentucky continued to press but the Knights maintained control for the rest of the set, taking a 25-21 win to even the match 1-1. BU came out of the intermission ready to play, taking an early 4-1 lead. The Knights controlled the pace for most of the start of the third set as they took a two-point lead into the media timeout, up 15-13. Eastern Kentucky went on the offensive out of the break, scoring four of five points to take its first lead of the stanza at 17-16 and force Bellarmine to call a timeout. EKU continued its rally with another 4-1 run following the timeout, forcing BU to use its final timeout of the set, down 17-21. The break seemed to work at first as Bellarmine scored two of the first three points, but the Colonels put the rally to rest as they secured the set with a 25-20 win. Eastern Kentucky used the momentum of the win to start the fourth, cruising to a 12-2 lead thanks to runs of five and seven straight points that forced the Knights to use both of their timeouts. Down 14-4, BU kicked into gear, scoring four consecutive points to cut the deficit to six, down 14-8 as EKU called a timeout. The Knights scored the first point out of the break before ripping off another 4-0 run to get back within three at 16-13. Eastern Kentucky regained composure after the run and began to control the pace again. Bellarmine made another run late in the set, using a third 4-0 run to make it interesting, down 24-21, but a timeout by EKU did the job as the Colonels came out of the break and scored the final point they needed to end the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.
 
Senior Anna Purichia, a former Colonel, and sophomores Erika Smith and Natalie Bland led the Knights, nothing 13 kills each. Smith was the most efficient of the trio as she turned in a red hot .550 hitting percentage in addition to a team and career-high five blocks. Purichia was also effective with her swings, hitting .296 while adding two digs, an assist and a block. In addition to her kills, Bland tallied five digs, a season-high tying three blocks and an assist. Junior Kylie Van Hoy and grad student Mara Perry shared the setting duties, registering 20 assists each. Van Hoy also contributed three kills, two blocks and a dig while Perry added three kills, three digs and an ace. Freshman Payton Parsons led the defensive effort with a game-high 15 digs with four assists and an ace.
 
Up next, Bellarmine will play its final road match of the season when the team travels to Fort Myers, Fl. this Saturday, November 9 for a bout with conference leader Florida Gulf Coast.
 
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