LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bellarmine Knights Volleyball rallied to capture the first set, but could not take advantage of the early momentum, falling in a 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 20-25, 17-25) decision on Friday night at home against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels.  With the result, the Knights drop to 6-7 overall and begin ASUN conference play at 0-1.
 
Set 1
 
Errors were the story for Bellarmine early on, as the Knights committed two attacking errors and a blocking error en route to an early 8-3 deficit in the first set.  Down 11-5 in the set, the Knights used a 10-4 run highlighted by back-to-back kills from Mya White to tie the set at 14.  After allowing EKU to score the next two points, the Knights closed on an 11-5 run that was bookended by two Natalie Bland kills and included back-to-back service aces from Addison Burke to give the Knights the set one victory.
 
Set 2
 
The second set began very similarly to the first, with the two teams trading points before a 10-4 Colonel run put EKU up 12-6.  Back-to-back EKU attacking errors pulled the Knights back to within four, but the Colonels responded with five straight points to go up 17-8.  Kills by Sarah Turner and Bland brought it to within seven, but the Colonels responded with four more unanswered points to take their biggest lead of the set at 21-10.  The Knights started swinging hard and managed to put together a 6-3 run, but a net violation gave EKU the decisive 25^th point of the set.
 
Set 3
 
Bellarmine delivered the first blow to begin the third set, as two EKU errors and a balanced attack that saw four different Knights earn kills in the early going gave Bellarmine an 8-3 lead.  Later, with the Knights up 12-7, two straight Colonel kills were answered by back-to-back Knights kills courtesy of White and Bland to put Bellarmine back up by five.  However, things began to shift at that point as EKU went on the attack and ripped off a 14-4 run that included a stretch of three consecutive kills.  The Knights used back-to-back EKU errors to pull to within three, but were unable to get any closer, as another kill and a service ace clinched the set for EKU.
 
Set 4
 
It was yet another slow start for the Knights, who fell behind 4-1 to begin the fourth set.  The Knights pulled to within a point at 4-3, but the Colonels kept the Knights at arms' length for the remainder of the set, never allowing Bellarmine to get within more than two from that point forward.  White and Abby Julius did their part to keep the Knights alive with two late kills, but EKU put the set, and ultimately the match away by a final score of 25-17.
 
White led the Knights with a season-high 16 kills on a .200 hitting percentage to go along with seven digs.  Bland also hit double digits in kills with 10, to go along with five digs and two service aces.  Smith and Julius each recorded eight kills, with the former leading the Knights in hitting percentage at .278 percent.  Defensively, the Knights were led by Payton Parsons, who accumulated 17 digs, hitting double digits for the 11^th time in 13 matches this season. 
 
In total, the Knights recorded 45 digs to EKU's 44, but also had 31 attack errors compared to 24 for the Colonels. 
 
Bellarmine continues ASUN play with Stetson at 1 p.m. ET Sunday in Knights Hall.
 
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow the Knights on X, Instagram and Facebook.