BU's season comes to a close with losses to No. 2 Park, No. 16 Dordt at Nationals

Park Box Score
Dordt Box Score

Tournament Schedule/Results

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- The 18th-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team saw its season come to a close following a pair of losses Tuesday at the NAIA Volleyball National Championship being held at the Tyson Events Center. 

The Bruins fell to No. 2 Park University in the opener 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-16), before dropping the finale to No. 18 Dordt University, 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 20-25, 25-14, 15-11). 

Bellevue ended its season with a 17-7 overall record. The Bruins won their first-ever North Star Athletic Association title this season, finishing with a 12-2 league record. Bellevue finished as runner-up at the NSAA Tournament to Viterbo University. 

The Bruins were making their 13th appearance in the National Tournament and it was their 10th time advancing to the final site.  

Match 1: Park 3, Bellevue 0

The Bruins got off to a slow start in all three sets and could never recover as the Pirates cruised to the 3-0 victory. 

Freshman Eve Fountain led the BU with 15 kills on .321 hitting while adding eight digs and a block. No other Bruin managed double-figure kills in the match as BU hit just .076, compared to .255 for Park. 

Taylan Keefer (17) and Sierra Athen (11) combined for 28 digs to lead the Bruin defense. 

Malaina Hensley led the Pirates with 12 kills and hit .310. Debora Bernardi added nine kills, five digs, and three blocks. 

Park raced out to an 8-1 lead in the opening set before BU used a 12-5 run capped by consecutive kills from Athen to draw to within three points at 16-13. The Pirates countered with an 8-1 spurt to close the set, winning 25-14. 

Park used an 11-1 run to take an 18-10 lead in the second frame before the Bruins scored six consecutive points on a pair of kills from Coree Lipovsky and put-aways by Fountain and Athen. The Pirates got kills from Alissa Flint and Kyra Kaoloi to take a 24-20 lead. The Bruins saved two set points following a kill from Jacki Apel and an attack error from Flint to make it 24-22. Park ended the set with an error from Apel.

The Pirates led from start to finish in the third set. A kill from Sienna Black got the Bruins to within two points at 9-7 but that was as close as BU could get as Park cruised to the 25-16 victory and the sweep. 

Match 2: Dordt 3, Bellevue 2

Eve Fountain (21) and Sierra Athen (11) combined for 32 kills but it wasn't enough as the Defenders recovered from a 2-1 deficit to survive in five sets. 

Fountain and Athen both recorded double-figure digs to produce their 13th and 12th double-doubles of the season, respectively. 

Freshman Taylan Keefer paced the BU defense with a match-high 29 digs. 

Olivia Galas dished out 50 assists to go along with nine digs, five kills, and three blocks. 

The Defenders were led by Allison (16) and Corrina Timmermans (14) who combined for 30 kills. Allison hit .444 in the match with no errors on 36 swings. 

Hannah Connelly paced the DU backcourt with 30 digs. Jori Bronner produced a match-high 14 blocks as the Defenders held a 19-9 advantage in total blocks. 

With the match tied at two sets apiece, the Bruins took a 9-6 lead in the decisive fifth set and appeared in control. Dordt, however, used a 9-2 run to end the match as BU got a pair of kills from Coree Lipovsky for its only two points in the last half of the set.