Bellevue returns to Quarterfinals for first time since 2000

Box Score
Pool Play Schedule/Results
Bracket Play Schedule

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- Jorie Lincoln served the Bruins to 12-straight points, breaking a 10-all tie in the fourth set to propel the Bellevue University volleyball team past No. 8-ranked and top-seeded Corban University 3-1 and into the NAIA National Tournament quarterfinals for the first time since 2000.

Bellevue improves to 26-7 on the season and faces No. 1-ranked University of Jamestown (34-0) in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 5 p.m.

The Warriors, who had entered the match on a seven-match winning streak, finish their season at 30-3 overall.

Jacki Apel and Sierra Athen tallied 10 kills apiece with Eve Fountain and Haley Fleischman each chipping nine in a balanced offensive effort.

Olivia Galas recorded 34 assists to go along with six kills in quarterbacking the Bruin offense to a .176 hitting percentage on the day.

Taylan Keefer led the defensive efforts with 24 digs. Fountain joined in double figures with 13 and Fleischman notched six block assists.

Avari Ridgway paced Corban with 14 kills and added 13 digs for a double-double. Rylee Troutman added 10 kills and nine digs for the Warriors who hit just .121 as a team.

Bellevue out-blocked Corban 11-9 and out-dug the Warriors 64-56 to overcome a 6-2 Corban advantage in service aces.

Set 1: BU 25, Corban 20
Bellevue (11-6-33: .156); Corban (11-7-39: .103)

Corban gained an early upper hand in the first set, taking a 9-5 lead after a pair of Bruin attacking errors, before Bellevue settled in.

A kill from Athen, pulled Bellevue to within three at 10-7, before a 5-0 run with Raeanne Kimoto serving put Bellevue ahead 11-10.

Consecutive Warriors points, gave Corban a 12-11 edge before a big 9-3 BU run put the Bruins ahead 20-15. Corban answered with a 4-1 run to prompt a Bellevue timeout and the Bruins went on to score two of the next three points.

Trailing 23-20, Corban was whistled for a back row attack to set up set point. Sidney Sledge served and following a rally Athen dropped a soft kill cross-court along the net to give Bellevue a 1-0 lead.

Set 2: BU 25, Corban 18
Bellevue (14-5-33: .273); Corban (12-8-38: .105)

Bellevue scored the first two points of the second set before a 5-0 Corban run helped put the Warriors ahead 8-4. The Bruins answered immediately with a 7-2 run to take an 11-10 lead.

Corban tied the set at 14-all with a block. After trading points, Bellevue again engineered a set-altering run, 6-1, to seize control of the set at 21-16 on a kill from Fountain.

Fountain gave the Bruins set point with a kill before Meyer and Athen combined on a block for a 2-0 Bellevue lead in the match.

Set 3: Corban 25, BU 11
Bellevue (7-9-29: -.069); Corban (7-3-21: .190)

With the score tied at eight apiece, Corban engineered a 17-3 run to close out the set and breathe some life into the Warriors.

The Bruins never found their footing in the set as they hit just -.069 with just one player recording a positive attack percentage.

Corban hit .190, their highest of any set in the match, but benefitted greatly from five service aces and nine Bruin attack errors.

Set 4: BU 25, Corban 20
Bellevue (15-4-37: .297); Corban (15-9-51: .118)

The fourth set started tight, similar to each of the previous three before a 4-1 Bellevue run gave the Bruins an early 8-4 edge. Corban countered by scoring a 5-1 run before the two sides traded points to knot the set at 10-all.

That paved the way for Jorie Lincoln to run off 11-straight service points following an Athen kill. Corban exhausted both of their timeouts during the match-defining run, taking them at 14-10 and 18-10, before finally breaking the Bellevue serve with a kill to pull within 22-11.

That kicked off an 8-0 run through cut the Warrior deficit to four points, 22-18. Athen set the Bruins up with match point on her 10^th kill of the night and two points later Fountain put the match to bed with her cross-court winner.

Quarterfinal Schedule (Thursday, Dec. 2)

5:00 PM - Court 1: #11 Bellevue (Neb.) vs. #1 Jamestown (N.D.)
5:00 PM - Court 2: #19 Concordia (Neb.) vs. #7 Marian (Ind.)
7:30 PM - Court 1: #21 Northwestern (Iowa) vs. #3 Missouri Baptist
7:30 PM - Court 2: #5 Providence (Mont.) vs. #4 Park (Mo.)