Bruins suffer heart-breaking loss to No. 5 SOU

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- The No. 23-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team was again dealt a heart-breaking loss as No. 5-ranked Southern Oregon came back from a 2-1 deficit and trailing in the fourth set to hand the Bruins 3-2 (26-28, 25-10, 22-25, 26-24, 15-11) defeat on Wednesday morning in second match in Pool Play for both teams in Pool E at the NAIA National Tournament at the Tyson Events Center.

Records:

#23 Bellevue: 27-10
#5 Southern Oregon: 31-3

Recap: #5 SOU 3, #23 BU (26-28, 25-10, 22-25, 24-26, 15-11)

For the second day in a row, Bellevue got off to a strong start, downing a higher-seeded team in the opening set but in a script similar to Tuesday the Bruins were unable to sustain as they suffered a crushing five-set loss to top-seeded and fifth-ranked Southern Oregon.

Trailing 24-21 in the opening set, BU ran off four-straight points to rally for a 28-26 victory and an early 1-0 lead.

Southern Oregon answered by opening the second set on a 7-1 run en route to a convincing 25-10 victory.

The Bruins got off to a quick 5-2 lead early in set No. 3 and neither team saw a larger advantage until Bellevue went up 24-20 on a service ace as BU took the third set by a 25-22 scoreline.

Leading 13-9 midway through the fourth set, Bellevue appeared to be in good shape but an 11-2 run from SOU gave the Raiders a 20-15 lead. The Bruins battled back to tie the set at 24-all but an SOU kill and Bruin attack error saw the Raiders force a decisive fifth set.

In the fifth set, Southern Oregon scored the first four points as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead. Trailing 8-3 when the teams switched sides, Bellevue used a 6-3 run to close to within two points at 11-9 but were not able to overcome their slow start as SOU recorded a 15-11 win to improve to 2-0 in Pool Play.

Olivia Galas netted her second triple-double of the season, finishing with 44 assists, 13 digs, and 12 kills.

Two other Bruins – Sierra Athen and Paige Holdsworth – recorded double-doubles in the loss. Athen and Holdsworth shared team-leading honors in both kills and digs with 13 and 15, respectively.

Coree Lipovsky joined the above trio in double figures with 10 kills and Madi Evans contributed 13 digs. Lipovsky totaled a team-high six blocks for BU who was out-blocked 17-8 on the day.

SOU out-hit Bellevue .211-.118, including .438-.167 in the decisive fifth set.

Raider All-American Taylor Ristvedt notched a game high 25 kills on .382 hitting – just four errors – to lead the Southern Oregon attack. Makayla Hoyt totaled 11 kills without an error as she hit .500 for SOU.

Hannah Bogatin led the Raiders with 32 assists with Tehani Faitau adding 15 while Emma Ryan paced the defense with 17 digs and Kadyn Jones dug 15 balls.

Up Next:

Bellevue wraps up Pool Play tomorrow morning with a 10 a.m. first serve against Indiana University Kokomo.

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