Bruins defeat EKU in four sets

While the Belmont volleyball team defeated the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in four sets Friday night at the Curb Event Center, head coach Deane Webb was quick to say the conference win wasn’t clean after the match.

“It probably wasn’t our best volleyball at times, a bit sloppy,” he said. “At first we played pretty well but after that we were just okay. I think some players struggled offensively tonight, but thankfully they contributed in other ways.”

Junior libero Jamie Lundstrom led the team with 28 digs, while setter Hannah Miranda notched 44 assists. Both Jen Meyer and Scarlett Gable recorded 13 kills on the night.

In the beginning of the first set, the Bruins and the Colonels went going back and forth exchanging kills. After being tied at six, Belmont put together a 14-5 run to build a 20-11 lead in the set. The Bruins pulled away to win the first set 25-15.

In a much closer second set, both teams fought a very tight battle with one another. After several ties early in the set, Belmont went ahead 22-14 thanks to a Gable run and two aces by Meyer.

But Eastern Kentucky then put together an 8-0 run to tie the set at 22. The teams were tied three more times towards the end of set, but Belmont would eventually pick up the necessary two points to win the second set 27-25.

Much like the first set was more in Belmont’s favor, the end of third set was all Eastern Kentucky. While the Bruins started out slowly in the set, they were able to pull within four to cut the lead 19-14. Eastern Kentucky wouldn’t back down, however, and won the set 25-18. The Colonels held the Bruins to .098 attacking percentage and never trailed in the third set.

In the fourth set, the teams battled closely again and had six different ties during the set. After the set was tied at 19, Belmont went on a 6-1 run to close out the set and match. With the win, the Bruins improved to 9-4 in conference play and 13-14 overall.

“Our team knew how important this win was and really worked hard to get it. There was no time tonight that our team stopped working,” Webb said. “There were some times that mentally we weren’t very focused, but there was never a time our team didn’t give good effort.”

Belmont will host Morehead State Saturday afternoon in its final home match of the season. Game time is 2 p.m. at the Curb Event Center.

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