Bruins bury Diggers to open season

Box Score
Tournament Website

BUTTE, Mont. -- The No. 17-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team kicked off the 2021 season in winning fashion, defeating previously unbeaten Montana Tech University 3-0 on Thursday evening at the Big Sky Challenge Thursday night being played at the Butte Civic Center.

The Orediggers (4-1) came in to play with four wins to their credit, going unbeaten at the Palm Beach County Sports Commission Volleyball Classic, without losing a set.

Setter Olivia Galas quarterbacked the Bruins to a .316 hitting percentage as they rolled to a 3-0 victory (26-24, 25-20, 25-16). Galas totaled 31 assists to go along with five kills (.500) and four digs.

Both teams came out swinging in the opening set. Bellevue out-hit Montana Tech .344-.290 as the Bruins that came away with a 26-24 victory. Eve Fountain led Bellevue with seven kills on 10 attacks in the frame and Sierra Athen added four on eight attacks. BU rallied from a late 24-22 deficit to score the final four points and take a 1-0 lead.

In the second set, Bellevue dug out of an early 5-2 hole to storm back for a 25-20 win. The Bruins led by as many as five points (21-16) in the set as they continued their strong attack (.219) while limiting their hosts to just a .108 hitting percentage. Tech cut the deficit to just two points (22-20) before BU rattled off three-straight points to take a two-sets-to-none lead in the match. Fountain and Nicole Meyer paced the Bruin attack with three kills apiece in the set.

Following some early back-and-forth action early in the third, Bellevue took control midway through the set with a 5-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back aces from Athen, to grab a 16-12 lead and force Montana Tech to use a timeout. The break did nothing to quell the Bruin momentum as Bellevue scored nine of the final 13 points to secure win the set 25-16 and take the match.

Fountain led Bellevue with 14 kills on .321 hitting. BU's top five in kills each hit over .300 on the night. Meyer (9) and Athen (8) finished just short of double figure kills and each attacked at a .333 clip. Taylan Keefer paced the defense with 18 digs. Haley Fleischman added four kills and share team-high honors for blocks (3) with Meyer.

Karina Mickelson hit .471 and led Montana Tech with 10 kills while Olivia Labeau hit .385 with seven kills for the home side. The Orediggers hit .152 as a team and were unable to overcome eight service errors and seven blocking errors. Sarah Hopcroft finished with a team-best 10 digs.

The Bruins (1-0) continue action in the tournament on Friday (Aug. 20) with a 2 p.m. (CT) match against Carroll College and a 6 p.m. (CT) battle with No. 6 Eastern Oregon.