FORT MYERS, Fl. – Playing in its final road match of the regular season against one of the top ranked teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference, the Bellarmine University volleyball team came up short in a 3-1 effort against Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday afternoon at Alico Arena.

After an exciting 25-18 first set victory for the Knights (11-15, 5-9 ASUN), the first set win in the series history, FGCU (16-8, 10-3 ASUN) went on for three straight set wins, taking down BU 25-18, 15-17 and 25-21 to claim the match.

Despite the loss, Bellarmine still has something to celebrate with senior Kylie Van Hoy registering her 2,000^th career assist in the match, becoming the ninth player in program history and first in the Division I era to do so. Van Hoy stuffed the stat sheet once again for the Knights, nearly turning in a triple-double with 33 assists, 12 digs, 7 kills (.278%) and a block. The effort marked her 11^th double-double of the year and second of the weekend.

Three Knights tallied 10+ kills on the day, led by redshirt freshman Mya White with 11 kills on a respectable .250 hitting percentage while adding a dig and a block. Juniors Natalie Bland and Erika Smith both recorded 10 kills each. Bland also contributed 10 digs, two assists and an ace while Smith hit at an impressive .400 clip with six blocks. Sophomore Payton Parsons turned in a match-high 15 digs and three aces, adding an assist.

As a team, Bellarmine tallied more aces in the match than FGCU with five to the Eagles four. The Knights were also stout at the net, recording 10.0 blocks as a team, one less than FGCU's 11.0.
The Eagles outdid Bellarmine in kills (53-46), assists (50-42) and digs (63-56).

Up next, Bellarmine will host its final two matches of the regular season with contests against Central Arkansas and North Alabama November 14-15 in Knights Hall.

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