Jimmies too much as BU falls in NAIA Quarters

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- The 11^th-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team saw their historic season come to a close on Thursday evening with a 3-0 loss to No. 1-ranked, and undefeated, University of Jamestown in the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Tournament.

The Jimmies defeated BU by scores of 25-23, 25-15, and 27-25 as UJ remains unbeaten, improving to 35-0 on the season. They advance to tomorrow's semifinal match where they will meet the winner of Park-Providence at 5 p.m. on Court 1.

Bellevue finishes their season with an overall record of 26-8. Their trip to the quarterfinals matched the program's best result at the National Tournament and their five wins (5-4) over top 10 opponents are the second most of any NAIA program this season.

Eve Fountain totaled 13 kills and nine digs on night to lead the BU offense and Sierra Athen added nine kills to go along with 12 digs.

Olivia Galas dished out 34 assists as the Bruins were out-hit .174-.041 on the evening. Taylan Keefer paced the BU defensive effort with 25 digs. Haley Fleischman and Nicol Meyer finished with five blocks apiece.

The Jimmies saw six players record at least six kills, led by Anna Holen's eight. Corina Huff, Taylor Sabinash, Aleah Zieske, and Kalli Hegerle each finished with seven kills and Jayla Ritter contributed six. Ellie Holen (23) and Anna Holen (21) combined for 44 digs for Jamestown.

Set 1: UJ 25, BU 23
Bellevue (11-10-51: .020); Jamestown (13-10-47: .064)

Bellevue matched Jamestown point-for-point in the early going, leading 6-4 before the Jimmies queued up a 12-1 run to grab a 16-7 lead in which Bellevue took both of their timeouts.

The Bruins played better after taking their second timeout, scoring a 10-5 run to trim the deficit to 21-17. A pair of Jamestown points pushed the lead back to six before Bellevue ran off three-straight to pull to within 23-20 with a pair of kills by Fountain and one by Meyer.

Kills from Fountain and Apel ahead of a block from the tandem of Meyer and Apel brought saw Bellevue fend off three set points and pull to within a point, 24-23. Jamestown finally took their first timeout and Anna Holen delivered a kill to put UJ up one set to none.

Set 2: UJ 25, BU 15
Bellevue (7-10-0: -.083); Jamestown (14-5-34: .265)

Building on their first set win, Jamestown ran out to an early 8-2 lead, aided by six Bruin attack errors. BU finally ended a 6-0 run with a kill from Athen but the Jimmies answered with back-to-back kills prompting Bruin timeout.

Out of the timeout, Bellevue scored three of the next four points but UJ answered by doing the same to push their lead back to seven points. The Jimmies pushed their lead to 10 points, 19-9 with a 5-1 run as the Bruins took their second timeout.

The Bruins and Jimmies more-or-less traded points the remainder of the way before Jamestown pulled out the 25-15 win.

Set 3: UJ 27, BU 25
Bellevue (18-10-58: .138); Jamestown (16-4-57: .211)

Bellevue turned in their strongest start in the third set, grabbing their first set lead since the 6-4 in the first. Bellevue scored the first point and, after trailing 5-2, the Bruins ran off a 7-2 run highlighted by a pair of Fleischman kills to grab a 9-7 advantage.

As they had in the first two sets, Jamestown again had an answer, scoring four-straight to regain the lead at 11-9. This time BU stuck around tying the match at 12 with back-to-back kills by Athen.

The Jimmies tried to gain separation, taking a 15-12 lead, but Bellevue quickly responded with a pair of Athen kills sandwiched between kills by Fleischman and Galas to take a 16-15 lead. BU and Jamestown traded points to 20 before the Bruins took the first timeout of the set.

After 13-straight side-out points, Jamestown final scored a point on serve courtesy of a Bruin attack error to take a 23-22 lead and force Bellevue to use their final timeout. Athen used a tip-kill out of the timeout to tie the set but a Hegerle kill gave the Jimmies match point. Fountain staved off back-to-back match points with crucial kills to keep Bellevue alive but UJ blocked her third to end the match in Jamestown's favor.