Bruins fight back for 5-set win over Rams in NAIA Opening Round

Box Score
Opening Round Statistics
Opening Round Results

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University volleyball team overcame a 2-1 deficit and survived two match points en route to a dramatic 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23, 18-16) victory over Texas Wesleyan University Saturday afternoon at Bellevue West High School in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.  

The Bruins (17-5) advance to the NAIA Volleyball National Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa on April 27-May 1. The 24-team event will be held at the Tyson Events Center. Texas Wesleyan ended its season at 18-5. 

Final site pools will be determined on Sunday, April 18, and released by 5 p.m.

Bellevue used a balanced attack with four players finishing in double figures. 

Freshman Eve Fountain led BU with 21 kills on 40 errorless swings while adding a match-high 16 digs for her team-leading 12th double-double of the season. Junior Sierra Athen notched her 11th double-double with 20 kills and 11 digs along with a pair of service aces. 

Junior Coree Lipovsky hit .385 with 14 kills and a block. Freshman Jacki Apel collected 14 kills along with two digs and a pair of blocks. 

Junior setter Olivia Galas set a rally-scoring era single-match school record with 65 assists while directing the BU offense to a .285 attacking clip. She also added 13 digs for her 11th double-double while putting down seven kills on 14 errorless attacks. 

Middle Veronika Webb paced the Rams with 13 kills on .417 hitting. Nyia Anderson notched a double-double with 13 kills and 14 digs along with six blocks. Madison Little finished with 11 kills on .360 hitting. Setter Morgan Burns collected a double-double with 47 assists and 10 kills on a sizzling .667 hitting percentage. 

Set 1: Texas Wesleyan 25, Bellevue 23

The Rams raced out to a 5-0 lead and led from start to finish in the opening set. BU pulled to within a single point on four occasions before TXWES pulled out the 25-23 victory capped by a service ace from Bailey Foy.

Athen led BU in the opener with five kills on 11 swings. Burns finished with three kills on four errorless swings.  

Set 2: Bellevue 25, Texas Wesleyan 18

Kills by six different Bruins helped BU charge out to a 10-4 lead in the second. TXWES used a 4-0 run capped by an ace from Emily Brooks and a BU attack error to pull to with one at 12-11. A 7-2 BU spurt capped by a block from Black and Apel pushed the Bruin advantage to five at 19-14 before the Bruins cruised to the 25-18 second-set win, finishing with a thunderous kill from Lipovsky. 

Athen, Lipovsky, and Fountain combined for 16 kills with only one error on 27 swings for a .556 hitting percentage between the trio. Little and Anderson both had three kills to lead the Rams in the second. 

Set 3: Texas Wesleyan 25, Bellevue 23

The third set featured 10 ties and one lead change with the largest lead for either team being three points. After a kill by Little gave the Rams a 22-20 lead, BU tied the set at 22-22 with kills by Fountain and Apel. Consecutive kills by Webb and Burns gave TXWES two set points at 24-22. The Bruins saved the first set point with a kill from Black. Webb's kill in the middle gave the Rams the 25-23 win and a 2-1 lead in the match. 

The Rams were paced in the third with five kills from Little and four each from Anderson and Webb as TXWES hit .517 in the set. BU was led by Fountain's seven kills on 12 error-free attacks.  

Set 4: Bellevue 25, Texas Wesleyan 23

The fourth set was tight throughout with eight ties and three lead changes. The Rams built the largest lead of the game at 14-10 before BU battled back with a 6-2 run highlighted by kills from Athen, Fountain, and Apel to tie the contest at 16-all. The two teams traded four-point runs as the set remained tied at 21-21. Kills from Apel and Lipovsky gave BU a 23-21 margin. After the teams traded side-outs, Fountain ended the game on a kill off the block to knot the contest at two sets apiece.  

Apel led BU in the fourth frame with five kills, while Athen, Lipovsky, and Fountain produced four kills each. 

Set 5: Bellevue 18, Texas Wesleyan 16

The fifth set provided plenty of drama with the Rams building an 11-6 lead capped by a block from Foy and Anderson on Apel. Trailing 12-8, the Bruins went on a six-point scoring run sparked by a pair of kills from Fountain and a kill and an ace from Athen, to give BU two match points at 14-12. A kill from Foy erased the first match point and Foy followed it up with a service ace to tie the set at 14-all. An attack error by Lipovsky gave the TXWES its first match point at  15-14. A Foy service error tied the set, but a kill by Webb gave the Rams their second match point at 16-15. A definitive kill from Fountain saved the match at 16 apiece. BU took the match following a kill from Black and a service ace from Galas, giving the Bruins the 18-16 victory, punching their ticket to Sioux City.  

Up Next: 

The NAIA Network – the association's official video-streaming home – will broadcast all matches excluding the semifinals and championship matches live at the 2020 NAIA Volleyball National Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, allows users access to live video, statistics, and social interaction on a number of devices, including mobile. Single-day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while a pool play pass is $24.95 (April 27-28) and a championship package is available at $39.95.

The semifinal and championship matches will be streamed via ESPN3.

The trip to the NAIA National Championship final site in Sioux City will be the 10th in BU history and the fourth in the last five years.