Athen leads BU to fifth-straight sweep

Box Score
NSAA Standings

DICKINSON, N.D. -- Senior Sierra Athen posted a match-high 16 kills on .433 hitting while leading the 14th-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-23) sweep over Dickinson State University Friday night in North Star Athletic Association at Scott Gymnasium.

The win marked BU's fifth-straight sweep, improving BU to 13-5 overall and 4-0 in the NSAA. DSU dropped to 2-15 overall and 0-4 in league play. 

Jacki Apel and Sidney Sledge produced eight kills apiece in the Bruins' balanced offense. Apel added six blocks. Allie Kerns finished with six kills and a pair of blocks in the win.

Senior setter Olivia Galas directed the BU offense to a .330 hitting clip, finishing with 39 assists, seven digs, three kills, and a service ace. 

Bellevue held the Blue Hawks to a .097 hitting percentage as BU out-dug DSU, 41-25, led by Taylan Keefer's match-high 14 digs. 

Katie Collum paced the Blue Hawks with eight kills, but she also was plagued by 11 attacking errors.  

The Bruins hit .414 in the first set and used a 5-0 run to close the game, taking the opener, 25-19. 

Two kills apiece by Apel and Athen highlighted a 10-2 BU run in the second as the Bruins hit a blistering .452 with just two hitting errors in the 25-17 victory. 

The third set featured 11 ties and six lead changes. After a kill by Athen gave the Bruins a commanding 23-17 advantage, the Blue Hawks scored six-straight points, capped by kills from Mackenna Johnson and McKenzie Moser to knot the frame at 23-all. The Bruins closed out the match on a kill by Athen and a block by Sledge and Nicole Meyer. 

The Bruins will head to Valley City, N.D., on Saturday (Oct. 1) to take on Valley City State University, beginning at 1 p.m.