Walker’s triple-double not enough as Bruins fall to Ottawa

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. -- The Bellevue University volleyball team, led by senior Beth Walker's first career triple-double (15 kills, 41 assists, 13 digs), came up just short against Ottawa University, falling 3-2, on Friday afternoon. The match was the first of four matches for the Bruins at the Baker University Tournament.

Bellevue, who is receiving votes in the latest NAIA National Poll, took the opening set by a count of 25-20 before dropping the second 25-22. The Bruins went on to drop third set 25-16 but rallied to a 27-25 win in the fourth set to force a decisive fifth.

The fifth, and decisive, set was a back-and-forth affair with neither side gaining more than a two point lead until Ottawa grabbed an 11-8 advantage. The Braves would hang on for a 15-10 win from there to improve to 8-0 and remain unbeaten on the season.

Walker's 15 kills were a career-high, eclipsing her previous best of 13 set on Oct. 17, 2014 against College of the Ozarks. Walker's triple-double was the first by a BU player since Jordan Broady on Oct. 16, 2012 against Grand View.

Walker and freshman Shayla Scanlan (13 kills) were the offensive highlights for the Bruins, hitting .609 and .303, respectively while the rest of the team hit a combined -.007 (34 kills, 35 errors, 144 attacks).

Defensively, sophomore Taylor Holz led the way with 34 digs while classmate Rachel Wald added 11 to go along with nine kills. Senior Victoria Bowens finished the match with nine digs and sophomore Mikaylah Gillespie led with three total blocks and added 11 kills.

Bellevue was narrowly out-hit in the match .161-.115 and even out-dug the Braves, 85-80, but it wouldn't be enough to overcome 39 attack errors.

The Bruins (5-6) are back in action tonight with a 5 p.m. match against No. 12 Northwestern College.