NORMAL, Il. – Sophomore Natalie Bland and junior Kylie Van Hoy were the stars of the night, each turning in a double-double in Bellarmine volleyball's 3-1 season opening loss to Lindenwood at the Linda Herman Classic on Friday night.
 
Bland turned in a career-high 18 kills on 41 swings (.293%) as she led the Knights on offense. On defense, Bland completed the double-double with 15 digs, one shy tying her career-high, adding three assists, one ace and block assist. Van Hoy paced the Knights with a career-high 41 assists, adding 11 digs, three kills and two blocks. Bellarmine totaled 50 kills in the match while racking up 10.0 blocks and five aces.
 
In addition to the great performances by Bland and Van Hoy, fifth year senior transfer Addison Foote made quite the Bellarmine debut as she recorded 14 kills, one shy of tying her career high. Sophomore Maddie Hagan turned in 11 kills as well, adding six blocks while grad student Mara Perry led the Knights with 20 digs, a new career-high mark.
 
As a team, Lindenwood tallied 49 kills, led by Anna Kraemer and Rebecca Janke with 11 each. The Lions also recorded six aces and 5.0 blocks in the match.
 
Set 1
The opening set was a back-and-forth affair from the first serve as neither team could create much separation. Bellarmine took the first point of the match before Lindenwood scratched away for a two-point lead, up 5-3. The Knights continued to battle as the set was deadlocked at 10-10. Bellarmine surged from there, taking its largest lead of the set at 14-11 thanks to back-to-back kills by fifth year senior Addison Foote, forcing the Lions to take their first timeout. Both teams continued to jockey for the lead with Bellarmine up two late, 23-21. Lindenwood finally broke through with a run four-point run to take the first set 25-23.
 
Set 2
Much like the opening set, set two was contentious to start as both teams battled. With the score even at 6-6, Lindenwood surged ahead to a 12-9 lead, forcing Bellarmine to call its first timeout of the stanza. The Knights got the first point out of the break, but Lindenwood continued to push the pace, charging ahead 17-12 to force BU to call its second timeout. What looked to be an insurmountable task, the Knights continued to fight, getting back within two after a 5-0 run, highlighted by two more kills from Foote and a timely ace by Kylie Van Hoy. Lindenwood stalled the run with a timeout before winning three of the final four points to take the set 25-21 and improve its lead to 2-0.
 
Set 3
Another tight set to start, the Knights and Lions were dead even through the first half of the stanza with the score tied 13-13. Lindenwood took a small lead at 15-13 before Bellarmine turned up the heat and went on a 4-0 run thanks to another two kills from foot and a kill each from Kylie Van Hoy and Natalie Bland to go up 17-15 and force the Lions to use their first timeout. Lindenwood answered after the break and tied the match 17-17. From there, neither team could hold on to a lead for long as the Bellarmine and Lindenwood continued to fight for control. As the set came to a close, Bland kicked into another gear, helping to score four of the final five points, courtesy of three kills and a block assist, and secure the set win for the Knights 25-22.
 
Set 4
Unlike the first three sets, Lindenwood came out firing in the fourth and jumped out to an early 5-1 lead. Bellarmine stayed tough and clawed back to within two, down 6-4, but the Lions continued to press on and extended their lead to 11-6, forcing the Knights to call a timeout. Lindenwood struck for the first two points out of the break, pushing its lead to 13-6. As the set continued on, Bellarmine managed to get back in it, closing the gap to two, down 18-16 thanks to the play of Maddie Hagan. The Knights were forced to call their second timeout of the stanza when Lindenwood went up 20-16. BU scored the first point out of the break to get back within three but never got any closer as Lindenwood went on to close out the match with a 25-19 win.