Bruins wrap up Silver Dollar City Tourney with split

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. -- The Bellevue University volleyball team split a pair of matches at Keeter Gymnasium on Day Two of the College of the Ozarks Silver Dollar City Tournament.

The Bruins dropped a five-setter to Evangel (3-0) to open the day before going on to sweep Hannibal-LaGrange (0-3) to wrap up action at the tournament.

Evangel 3, Bellevue 2 (22-25, 25-21, 16-25, 25-22, 15-8)

Bellevue took the first and third sets but couldn't put away Evangel in game four despite holding a seven-point lead at 21-14. The Crusaders closed the set on an 11-1 run to force the decisive fifth where they went on to post a 15-8 victory to secure the match.

Sierra Athen (.164) pounded out a match-high 19 kills and Andrea Carson (.235) added 13 while setter Olivia Galas directed the Bruin offense to a .186 hitting percentage with 43 assists to go along with eight digs and five kills (.294).

The BU defensive efforts were led by Madi Evans (16 digs) while Fabiola Aviles (13), Athen (12) and Sidney Craig (12) all joined her with double-figure digs.

Athen's double-double was her first at the collegiate level.

Heather Gahm (.333) led the Crusader attack finishing with a team-high 16 kills. Teammates Bridget Petersen (14 kills, .429 hitting) and Tori Lowry (11 kills, .320 hitting) also reached double figures in kills.

Iva Jelovac (17 assists, 11 digs) recorded a double-double for Evangel and Victoria Finkbiner dished out a team-best 32 assists.

Jorden Stacey led Evangel with 19 digs.

Evangel out-hit Bellevue in each of the sets that the Crusaders won and by a .200-.186 margin for the match.

Bellevue 3, Hannibal-LaGrange 0 (25-16, 25-9, 25-13)

Sierra Athen led a convincing performance as Bellevue dominated the stat sheet en route to a comfortable three-set victory over Hannibal-LaGrange.

Athen narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with 10 kills (.333 hitting) and nine digs.

Olivia Galas notched her second double-double in as many days finishing 17 assists and 10 digs while helping guide the Bruins to a .287 hitting percentage.

Madi Evans came up just an assist short of a double-double to go along with her 14 digs.

Supporting the offensive efforts were Andrea Carson (7 kills, .125 hitting) and Shayla Scanlan (5 kills, .400 hitting).

Bellevue out-hit HLGU .287-.021 and out-dug the Trojans by a 55-36 margin.

Brenley Stearns (.150) led Hannibal-LaGrange with five kills and Ashlyn Spay paced the team with 10 digs.

Up Next:

Bellevue (2-2) plays their first home match of the season on Thursday, Aug. 30 when they host Baker University (0-0) to kick off the 2018 GoSarpy.com Labor Day Classic at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. First serve is set for 5 p.m.