Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont dominated the first two sets
against Kennesaw State, but could not sustain the momentum, falling
in five sets to the Owls to open conference play on Friday night at
the Curb Event Center.
The Bruins blasted out of the gate to start the match, winning
the first two sets 25-18, 25-21. Kennesaw State came out on fire
after the break, taking the third set 19-25. Belmont battled in the
fourth set, falling 22-25. The Bruins started very slowly in the
deciding set, trailing 3-8 at the change-over. Belmont fought back
to tie the score at eight and then take a lead. The final set was
back and forth, and the Owls ultimately came out on top, winning
the set 13-15.
This was the second consecutive match where the Bruins won the
first two sets comfortably only to drop the final three sets. In
both matches the margin in the final set was only two points. Head
Coach Deane Webb and his team are left still searching for the
right adjustments. With Mercer up next tomorrow afternoon, Belmont
will have to battle through the sting of tonight's loss and improve
for the next opponent.
"It's something we're just going to have to learn to get through
as a group," Webb said. "Only twice in the first 13 years of my
coaching career have we had a two-zero lead in a match and lost and
(this year) it's happened three times in a month. I've never seen
anything like it. That's something I just have to a better job of
as a coach, figuring out what this team needs because this team
needs something very different than any other team I've ever
coached and I haven't done a good job of figuring out what it is
that they need."
Belmont was led by senior Kayla
Albritton (Gainesville, Fla.) with 16 kills while junior Maggie
Johnson (Naperville, Ill.) added 14. Albritton also finished
with three aces, including some timely ones in set five, when she
served four straight points. The service run was crucial in the
Bruin comeback in set five.
"I thought Kayla did a great job of getting back there and
serving a huge run of points," Webb said. "I look at the stats in
this match and we came into this match wanting to stop their big
gun, number eight (Sabrita Gulley), and they came into this match
wanting to stop Kayla. They (the two players) pretty much played to
a draw. Our kid hits a little higher and gets a few more blocks and
aces. Their kid was probably a little better in game five. This
wasn't a statistical issue. We just weren't in control of our
emotions. At the end of the match, we got on a great run, got a
little excited and then thought a little too far (ahead) and lost
control and didn't communicate on a couple of points that we needed
to."
Senior Carly
Frazier (Stillwater, Okla.) also had a good service night for
the Bruins, recording three aces and holding serves for several
points at a time, including a stretch of six in a row during the
second set. Junior Channing
Salava (Clearwater, Fla.) led the team with 28 assists. Four
Bruins recorded double-digit digs tonight. Johnson led the team
with 15 digs, while freshmen Jen Myer (New
Braunfels, Texas) and Jamie
Lundstrom (La Grange, Ill.) each had 11. Senior Megan
Clements (Indianapolis, Ind.) recorded 10 digs in her first
action since September 18th. Tonight marked the return of seniors
Tara
Blood and Clements to the Belmont lineup after injuries kept
both players out for the past few matches. With back-to-back
matches this weekend, both players should quickly be back in the
swing of things.
"Tara struggled tonight," Webb said. "She was trying, she was
going after it, but she's been out for a while. As someone who
needs a certain rhythm on a set and a certain tempo when she's
adjusting to things…when you're out for a while, it's hard
to get that rhythm back. I know she'll be better tomorrow and we're
glad to have her back in the lineup for us."
Belmont is back in action tomorrow afternoon against Mercer.
First serve for that match is set for 2 p.m. The Bruins will look
to rebound from tonight's heartbreaking loss and improve their
record in conference play.
"We have no choice," Webb said. "This is conference play and
every match matters. Mercer is a good team and we have a pretty
good understanding of what they like to do. On our side, we need to
be consistent and have consistent emotion and execution and
discipline on defense."
Post Match Quotes
