JACKSONVILLE, Fl. – Bellarmine volleyball fell 25-18, 25-17, 25-19 on Friday night in a tough match at Jacksonville University.

The Knights (8-11, 2-5), despite the loss, turned in a solid effort against the top ranked Dolphins (16-3, 7-0), staying within striking distance in all three sets.

Redshirt freshman Mya White led the Bellarmine effort with 10 kills, adding a block and a dig. Junior Erika Smith turned in nine kills in the match, hitting an electric .500 with just one error in 16 attempts while adding a block and a dig. Fellow junior Natalie Bland rounded out the top three hitters with seven eliminations, a team-high eight digs, an ace and a block. Senior Kylie Van Hoy dished 25 assists, adding three kills in eight swings (.375), seven digs and an ace.

Set 1
Jacksonville got off to a fast start, taking a 6-0 lead immediately. The Knights battled back though, closing the gap to just one point, down 10-9 thanks to a 6-4 run. From there, Bellarmine stayed close but a 4-0 run from JAX pushed the deficit back to six, down 18-11. BU answered with three straight points of its own to make it 18-14 but the Knights were unable to get any closer as the Dolphins went on to win 25-18.

Set 2
The second set was much more tightly contested to start as the stanza remained tied at 5-5. Bellarmine took its first lead of the match at 6-5 but Jacksonville evened the score on the next play before turning in a 3-0 run to take a 10-7 lead. The Knights stopped the run and fought back to even the score once again at 11-11. Play remained tight from there until JAX ripped of two 3-0 runs separated by just a service error to jump ahead 18-14 and force Bellarmine to take a timeout. The Dolphins continued to push the pace out of the break, extending their lead to 23-16 before taking the set 25-17 after a final BU timeout.

Set 3
In the third, Jacksonville jumped in front early, going up 5-2. Just as Bellarmine had done all night, the Knights rallied once again to tie the frame at 9-9 before taking a 10-9 lead. The Dolphins answered with five straight points, retaking the lead at 14-10. From there, JAX maintained its lead as Bellarmine continued to fight, getting as close as down two at 19-17. Down 22-17, Bellarmine used a timeout to try to find another push, but Jacksonville came out of the break ready to close out the match and did so with a 25-19 win to complete the sweep.

Up next, Bellarmine will remain in Jacksonville, making the short trip to North Florida for a match against the Ospreys on Saturday, October 18 at 6 pm E.T.

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