LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bellarmine Volleyball hits the road for the first time this weekend, the first of three straight weekends away from home, heading to Harrisonburg, VA for the LD&N Insurance Invitational, hosted by James Madison University September 5-6 at Convocation Center.

The Knights will play three matches in the event, first facing off against the host Bulldogs on Friday, September 5 at 5 pm E.T. Action will continue Saturday, September 6 with Bellarmine taking on Princeton at 10:30 am E.T. before closing out the trip with a final match against Lehigh at 3:30 pm E.T.

Friday night's match against James Madison will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Bellarmine opened its season last weekend, hosting the Bellarmine Classic, presented by Hilton Garden Inn. The Knights went 2-1 overall, defeating Indiana State 3-0 and SIUE 3-1 while dropping their contest to Miami (OH) 3-0. With the win over Indiana State in Bellarmine's season debut, BU moved to 4-2 in its home opener in the Division I era. Junior Natalie Bland picked up right where she left off to end last season, turning in 42 kills across the three matches, recording double-digits in each match. Her 4.20 kills and 4.65 points per set leads the ASUN through the first week of play. She also notched her first double-double of the year with 13 kills and 12 digs against SIUE. Sophomore Payton Parsons was all over the court on defense, racking up 57 digs, good for 5.7 digs per set to lead the league. Senior Kylie Van Hoy paced the offense, tallying 30+ assists in all three matches for 109 total assists on the weekend. She leads the conference with her 10.90 assists per set and was named the ASUN's first Setter of the Week for the 2025 season with her impressive weekend. It is her third weekly award in the last two seasons. As a team, Bellarmine is tops in the ASUN in kills per set with 14.00 and assists per set with 12.70. The Knights also rank second in digs per set with 16.70. BU shares a piece of a five-way tie at the top of the league standings.  

About the Dukes

• James Madison opened its 2025 season at the FGCU Invitational last weekend, going 0-3 with a loss to No. 17 Missouri and two losses to FGCU. Last season, the Dukes went 11-16 overall, 6-10 in the Sun Belt. JMU earned a postseason berth to the Sun Belt Conference Championship after a fourth-place finish in the SBC's East Division. This year, James Madison was tabbed to finish second in the Sun Belt's East Division in the league's Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Senior Julia McNeley, a Louisville native, headlines the Dukes' returning group after ranking second on the team with 252 digs and 2.74 digs per set a year ago. After the first weekend, she leads JMU with 36 digs, 3.00 per set. Offensively, junior Kennedy Louisell is the go-to attacker for the Dukes, leading the team with 60 kills on the year already.
• Bellarmine and James Madison have met three times previously with all three meetings coming between the 1980 and 1981 seasons. Bellarmine is 1-3 all-time against JMU with its lone win coming in the first ever meeting on November 20, 1980 (2-1). The most recent meeting between the two teams was November 20, 1981, resulting in a 2-1 win for James Madison.

About the Tigers

• Princeton will open its 2025 campaign this weekend at the LD&B Insurance Invitational. In 2024, the Tigers turned in a 15-11 overall record with an impressive 12-2 run in Ivy League play. Princeton finished the season tied for first in the Ivy League with Yale but was the No. 1 seed in the Ivy League Tournament, first defeating Brown 3-0 before falling to Yale 3-0 in the final. In the Preseason Coaches' Poll, Princeton was tabbed to finish second with seven first place votes.
• The Tigers return a highly decorated players in three-time All-Ivy selection Lucia Scalamandre, two-time All-Ivy selection Sydney Draper and 2024 All-Ivy honoree Jackie Onyechi. Scalamandre, who was the 2022 Ivy Rookie of the Year, finished last season fifth in the Ivy League in hitting percentage (.355), third in blocks (97), third in blocks per set (1.05), eighth in points (299.0) and ninth in points per set (3.25). Draper, the 2023 Ivy Rookie of the Year and 2024 Ivy League All-Tournament selection, finished third in the conference in assists per set (9.62) and assists (827) a year ago. Onyechi ranked second in the league in blocks per set (1.10) and second in hitting percentage (.405) last season.
• Bellarmine and Princeton will face off for the first time when the schools meet each other on the court on Saturday morning.

About the Mountain Hawks

• Just like Bellarmine, Lehigh opened its season with a 2-1 start, defeating Fordham (3-0) and Binghamton (3-0) with a loss to UConn (3-0). Last year, the Mountain Hawks went 16-13 overall and 8-8 in the Patriot League, earning a Patriot League Tournament berth after a sixth-place finish. Lehigh advanced to the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament where they fell to the No. 1 seed Colgate 3-1. This season, Lehigh was picked to finish fifth in the league's Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Senior Natalie Luscomb was named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team after a breakout season in 2024 when she was named Second Team All-Patriot League after leading the Mountain Hawks with 265 kills while hitting .294. She also ranked third on the team with 66.0 blocks. In three matches this season, Luscomb has tallied 19 kills and 2.0 blocks.
• Bellarmine and Lehigh will face off for the first time when the schools meet each other on the court on Saturday afternoon.

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