Bruins topple Ozarks, 3-1, in MCAC thriller

Box Score

BELLEVUE, Neb. – Junior setter Beth Walker (Dubuque, Iowa) recorded match-highs of 13 kills and 35 assists and fell just one dig shy of a triple-double to lead the Bellevue University volleyball team to a 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-14, 25-21) victory against the visiting College of the Ozarks in a Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference match-up on Friday night at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.

The victory snapped a three match losing streak for Bellevue (17-16, 3-0 MCAC) who moved back over .500 while the loss was Ozarks' (9-13, 4-1 MCAC) fifth in their last seven. More importantly, however, the win means Bellevue is now alone atop the MCAC as the only remaining unbeaten team in the conference.

The first set the Bobcats used a 5-0 run to turn what, at one point, was a five point deficit into an 18-14 on their way to claiming a 25-21 victory in the battle of MCAC unbeatens. Ozarks held a 23-17 lead late in the match but four straight Bellevue points pulled the Bruins within one at 23-21 before Ozarks claimed the last two points of the set and the victory.

In the second set Bellevue turned an 8-8 tie into an 18-11 lead with a 10-3 run on their way to a 25-18 win to even the match at one set apiece. During the run Bellevue received service aces from both Walker and redshirt freshman Addison Smith (Papillion, Neb.).

BU jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in the pivotal third set prompting the Bobcats to burn a timeout. Out of the timeout Bellevue scored three straight points to increase their lead to 11-3 before Ozarks could score again. Trailing 15-5, Ozarks burned their second, and final, timeout in an effort to stem the Bruin attack but it would be to no avail as Bellevue hung on for the 25-14 victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.

In set number four Bellevue continued their dominance by building leads of 9-3 and 13-5 and appeared to be on their way to cruising to another victory. A furious comeback by Ozarks pulled the Bobcats to within two points at 20-18 but Bellevue recovered on their way to the 25-21 victory. Much like in each of the two previous sets, the Bruins used their short-serve game to perfection throughout the match, accumulating seven service aces, compared to just two for Ozarks.

The win was the fifth in a row in the series for Bellevue, a series which dates back to the 1994 season. Bellevue extended their dominance in the series and now leads the all-time head-to-head match-up 30-13. Bellevue out-hit Ozarks by a count of .135-.044 for the match while the Bruins also held a 64-56 edge in digs.

In addition to Walker, freshman Rachel Wald (Omaha, Neb.) also finished the match in double figures with 11 kills to go along with 16 digs for her first career double-double. Freshman libero Taylor Holz (Omaha, Neb.) totaled a team-high 18 digs in the match. Junior Symone Faulkner (Denver, Col.), sophomore LaJaida Even (Waverly, Iowa), and freshman Gracie Myers (Treynor, Iowa) each had seven kills for the Bruins.

Bellevue will return to the court tomorrow with a 1:00 p.m. match fellow MCAC member Central Baptist College at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.