4 Bruins named to all-NSAA squad; 2 pick up major awards

The Bellevue University volleyball squad landed four members on the all-North Star Athletic Association first team in an announcement made tonight in conjunction with the NSAA Volleyball Tournament. In addition, junior Olivia Galas was named the NSAA Setter of the Year for the fourth time in her career and freshman middle blocker Haley Fleischman earned NSAA Freshman of the Year honors. First-team all-conference members from BU included: Galas, Fleischman, freshman outside hitter Eve Fountain, and junior outside hitter Sierra Athen. In addition, junior middle blocker Sienna Black garnered second-team recognition.

November 11, 2021

WATERTOWN, S.D. -- The Bellevue University volleyball squad landed four members on the all-North Star Athletic Association first team in an announcement made tonight in conjunction with the NSAA Volleyball Tournament. In addition, Olivia Galas was named the NSAA Setter of the Year for the fourth time in her career and middle blocker Haley Fleischman earned NSAA Freshman of the Year honors. Second-year assistant coach Micah Rhodes was named the NSAA Assistant Coach of the Year.

First-team all-conference members from BU included: Galas, Fleischman, freshman outside hitter Eve Fountain, and junior outside hitter Sierra Athen. In addition, junior middle blocker Sienna Black garnered second-team recognition and was Bellevue's Champion of Character recipient.

A four-time first-team all-NSAA selection, Galas leads the Bruins and the league with 11.31 assists per set. She is fourth on the squad with 2.27 digs and fifth with 0.23 service aces per set. Her 11.31 assists per set ranks fifth nationally. Among setters in a 5-1 offense, Galas ranks first nationally with 1.38 kills per set while hitting at a .283 attacking clip.

Galas has earned NSAA Setter of the Week honors five times this season and she was honored as the NAIA's National Setter of the Week on Sept. 28. This marks the fourth time in her career she has been named the NSAA Setter of the Year.

Galas is second on this year's squad with nine double-doubles. She set a school record earlier this season with the most assists in a three-set match in the rally-scoring era with 55 at Mayville State. Galas has moved up to third on BU's all-time career charts with 5,060 career set assists.

Fountain, last year's NSAA Freshman of the Year and a two-time first-team honoree, leads the Bruins with 3.64 kills per set and is third with a .287 attack percentage. A six rotation player, Fountain is second on the team with 361 digs and third with 25 service aces. Fountain also leads this year's squad with 18 double-doubles.

Fountain led the NSAA with her 3.64 kills per set and ranked fourth with a .287 hitting percentage.

Athen, a three-time first-team all-NSAA selection, is second on this year's team with 3.02 kills per set while leading the Bruins with 28 service aces. She is third on the team with 252 total digs and has recorded eight double-doubles on the season.

Earlier this season, Athen became the eighth player in school history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. She currently ranks seventh in school history with 1,438 career kills and 13th with 1,237 career digs.

Fleischman hit .301 on the season while averaging 1.71 kills per set. She ranked fourth in the league with 1.00 blocks per set. She has amassed 154 kills and 89 total blocks this season. She recorded a career-high seven blocks on two occasions, both were on the road at Dakota State and at No. 2 Viterbo.

Fleischman had 15 matches where she hit above .300 and 13 matches where she registered four or more blocks.

Black leads the Bruins with a .324 hitting percentage and is third with 0.68 blocks per set. She has increased her hitting percentage by over 100 percentage points over last season. Black has hit over .300 in 13 matches this season including a career-high .556 attacking efficiency at Mayville State on Sept. 24.

Working primarily with the middle blockers and offensive side of the game, Rhodes helped the Bruins finish in the top two in the conference in both hitting percentage (.250) and kills per set (14.22), as well as third in blocks per set (1.9). Bellevue's 14.22 kills per set also ranks sixth nationally in the NAIA. Under his guidance, Fleischman was named the Freshman of the Year and first-team all-NSAA, while Sienna Black garnered second-team all-NSAA honors.

The Bruins earned the No. 2 seed in NSAA Tournament which will take place on Nov. 12-13 at the Watertown Civic Arena. BU received a first-round bye and will battle the winner of the 10 a.m. matchup between No. 3 Dakota State and No. 6 Presentation. That match will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 12) night.

2021 All-NSAA Volleyball Team

First Team

Sierra Athen, Bellevue

Haley Fleischman, Bellevue

Eve Fountain, Bellevue

Katie Frohmader, Viterbo

Olivia Galas, Bellevue

Miah Garant, Viterbo

Madalyn Groft, Dakota State

Bailey Nelson, Valley City State

Elora Passa, Mayville State

Maddie Polzin, Dakota State