Bellevue drops heartbreaker to Morningside in tournament finale

Box Score

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- The Bellevue University volleyball team battled back from a two-set deficit, rallying in both the third and fourth sets, to force a deciding fifth game, before falling to Morningside College 15-25, 23-25, 25-21, 26-24, 12-15 in the Bruins' final match at the NAIA Volleyball National Championship Thursday night at the Tyson Events Center.

The contest marked the final match of the 2009 season for both teams. Bellevue, ranked No. 14 nationally, concluded the year with a 29-10 overall mark, while Morningside finished at 32-9.

Junior middle blocker Jaclyn Thorson led the Bruins with 13 kills and three blocks.

Senior Rachel Muller notched her 23rd double-double of the year with 10 kills and 17 digs. Senior Lace Puffer was also in double figures with 11 kills and four blocks.

Sophomore Maureen Wardian collected a match-high eight blocks to go along with nine kills.

Defensively, Bellevue was led by junior Katy Gregory's career-high 28 digs.

After dropping the first two sets, the Bruins fell behind 13-6 in the third as the Mustangs appeared to be headed for a sweep. Bellevue, however, fought back, going on a 9-3 run to pull to within one at 16-15. With the scored knotted at 20, the Bruins closed out the set with kills by Puffer and Thorson, and three Morningside attack errors, giving BU the 25-21 win.

Bellevue trailed by five in the fourth set at 9-4, before five Bruin kills keyed an 8-4 run to pull BU to within one at 13-12. Trailing 18-17, the Bruins scored four-straight after three Mustang attack errors and a kill by Gabby Pfannenstiel gave Bellevue a three-point (21-18) cushion. A kill by Muller, gave the Bruins two-set points at 24-22, before an attack error by Puffer and a kill by Morningside's Jessica Tjaden tied the game at 24. Consecutive kills by Wardian and Kali Schnacker forced the deciding fifth set.

The Bruins trailed the entire fifth set, but were able to chip away at a 13-9 deficit, scoring three-straight after a Broady kill and two Mustang attack errors pulled the Bruins to within one at 13-12. Morningside ended the match with a kill by Kaeli Austin and a block on Muller by Tjaden and Emily Christen.