LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bellarmine volleyball will conclude its longest road stretch of the season with one final multi-team event, traveling to Fort Wayne, IN for the Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational Friday, September 19 to Saturday, September 20 at the Gates Sports Center.

The Knights will play three matches on the weekend, kicking off with a doubleheader on Friday, first taking on Mercyhurst at 11 am E.T. before facing off with Toledo at 4:30 pm E.T. Bellarmine will close out the weekend on Saturday with a final match against Purdue Fort Wayne.

Last weekend, BU turned in a 2-1 record at IU Indy's Hampton Inn Invitational. The Knights opened the event with a 3-1 victory over the Jaguars before moving on to an exciting 3-2 win over Northern Illinois. In the final match, Bellarmine fell to Gonzaga 3-1. With a 2-1 record, Bellarmine shared the "tournament win" with both Northern Illinois and Gonzaga.

Sophomore Payton Parsons and freshman Abby Julius both earned All-Tournament Team honors for their impressive play. Parsons was all over the court for Bellarmine, recording 57 digs on the weekend, good for 4.38 digs per set. She recorded 18+ digs in each match to lead the Knights defensive efforts. In addition, she tallied 13 assists and six aces on the weekend. Julius entered the starting lineup for the first time for Bellarmine this weekend and made the most of the opportunity, registering 35 kills, second most on the team and good for 2.69 kills per set. She helped the Knights in all facets of the game, adding 12 digs, six aces, three blocks and an assist on the weekend. On Thursday, she turned in the best performance of her young career, racking up 17 eliminations while hitting .316 with 5 digs, 4 aces and a block.

Additionally, Senior Kylie Van Hoy and junior Natalie Bland had great weekends on the court, despite not being selected for the All-Tournament Team. Van Hoy paced the Bellarmine offense all weekend racking up 111 assists in three matches, good for 8.54 assists per set. She turned in 36+ assists in each match and tallied one double-double while stuffing the stat sheet each night. Overall, she added 25 digs, 10 kills, 7 blocks and 2 aces to her weekend line. Bland was once again the leading force behind the Knights' offense, recording a team-best 43 kills on the weekend, good for 3.31 per set. She reached double figure kills in all three matches while also contributing 16 total digs, two blocks, two aces and an assist. 

About the Lakers

• Mercyhurst is off to a 2-8 start to its season. The Lakers have played in an MTE each of the first three weeks of the season and are coming off a 1-2 showing at the Binghamton Invitational where they ended with a 3-2 win over Canisius after falling 3-0 to both Binghamton and Bucknell. Last season, Mercyhurst went 5-19 overall and 4-10 in the NEC. In the NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Lakers were tabbed to finish fifth. Mercyhurst is in its second season of Division I reclassification after making the move following the 2023 season.
• The Lakers' offense features three players with 50-plus kills on the season and is led by grad student Julia Shepherd with 103 eliminations. Redshirt junior Andrew Zaric ranks second with 68 kills with junior Roslyn Guerra following with 52. Operating a 5-2 rotation, Mercyhurst has two setters with over 150 assists in senior Alia Mastromatteo (171) and junior Alyssa Krause (151). The defensive load is spread across all of the Lakers' roster with 12 players registering double digit digs and five players tallying 40+. The group is led by Mastromatteo with 67 and Krause with 60, followed closely by sophomore Sydney Forcht with 58 and Zaric with 56. At the net, senior Kaitlin Murphy owns a team-high 29.0 blocks with Shepherd and fellow sophomore Sarah Barnum turning in 20.0 blocks each.
• Bellarmine and Mercyhurst have not met in the Knights' Division I era, but the two schools met four times in the Division II days, splitting the contests for an even 2-2 record. The last time the teams met was September 6, 2014 in Knights Hall where BU secured a 3-0 win.

About the Rockets

• Toledo is 6-3 to begin its 2025 campaign. The Rockets enter their final MTE before conference play after a 1-2 weekend at the Buffs Invitational where they defeated Denver 3-2 before dropping a 3-0 contest to Colorado and a 3-2 match to Arkansas. In 2024, Toledo went 17-15 overall and 10-8 in the MAC to earn a berth in the MAC Tournament and an invite to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The Rockets fell in round one of both events, dropping a 3-0 contest to Ball State in their conference tournament before a 3-0 loss to DePaul in the NIVC. In the MAC's Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Rockets were picked to finish sixth in the league.
• The Rockets had two players named to the 2025 Preseason All-MAC Team in sophomore Grace Freiberger and redshirt sophomore Sierra Pertzborn. Pertzborn leads a trio of Rockets with over 70 kills, notching 75 so far this season while hitting at an efficient .315 clip. She also leads the team with 37.0 blocks, good for 1.12 per set. Freiberger leads Toledo's defensive effort with 144 digs, 4.24 per set. Senior Kelsey Smith paces Toledo's offense with 315 assists, dishing out 9.26 per set.
• Bellarmine and Toledo will meet for the first time when they face off on Friday afternoon.

About the Mastodons

• Purdue Fort Wayne is off to a 1-7 start to its season. The host Mastodons collected their first win in 3-1 fashion over Niagara at the EMU Tournament. Last season, Purdue Fort Wayne turned in a 17-15 record and went 10-8 in the Horizon League, earning a spot in the conference championship where the fell 3-1 to Green Bay in the first round. In the Horizon League's Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Mastodons were tabbed to finish seventh.
• Reigning Horizon League Freshman of the Year and All-Freshman Team selection Riley Rosneck returns for her sophomore campaign. Rosneck leads the Purdue Fort Wayne offense by a wide margin with 124 kills, good for 4.00 per set, double that of the fellow sophomore Meg Berkland and junior Becky Barrett with 62 kills each. Freshman Haiden Means paces the offense with 232 assists with fellow freshman Lili Smith adding 63 helpers. Defensively, Barrett leads the digs effort with 132, 4.40 per set. She is followed by Berkland with 84 and Means with 74. Sophomore Mya Plemons has registered a team-best 35.0 blocks on the year, 1.13 per set, while Rosneck ranks second with 20.0 rejections.  
• Bellarmine and Purdue Fort Wayne have not met in the Knights' Division I era, but the two were common opponents in the Division II days, battling against each other as GLVC foes. The Knights and Mastodons faced off 28 times between 1983 and 2000, before Purdue Fort Wayne transitioned to Division I, with the Mastodons taking a commanding 27-1 lead in the all-time series. The last time the teams met was October 1, 2000, resulting in a 3-0 Bellarmine loss. The Knights' lone win came on September 29, 1991 in 3-2 fashion.

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