Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Belmont (7-12, 1-1) dominated set one and
then came from behind to take sets two and three to defeat Mercer)
(6-14, 0-2), 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in the Curb Event Center.
The win was the first of the conference season for the Bruins and
snapped a three-match losing skid.
The fast start in the first set and the fight exhibited by the
Bruins in sets two and three showed the team was able to shake-off
last night's heartbreaking five-set loss to Kennesaw State.
The improvement was one Head Coach Deane Webb was happy to see.
"I think any time you take 29 swings and get 19 kills and
only have one hitting error, that's a great number and
that's an unusual number," Webb said of the first set.
"We don't expect to hit over .600 very often, so that
was great to see. Those seven hitting errors we had in set two were
all within their first nine points when they went out on that big
run. After that, we didn't have a single hitting error in
that set and I thought that was important for our team be able to
regain their composure, focus, and then come out in set three and
actually get better. We were better in three in three than we were
in two and that's something our team needed to do
today."
Belmont was led by junior Maggie Johnson (Naperville, Ill.) with
16 kills while senior Kayla Albritton added 13. Freshman Hannah Miranda (Covington, La.) led the Bruins with 37 assists. Johnson
shared team high honors in digs with libero Megan Clements. Both
recorded 14 digs.
"I think Maggie definitely got her feet to the ball and
she attacked a higher percentage of balls with pace today and for
us, when we're talking to Maggie, it's not so much
about hitting percentage as it is about kill percentage---how many
swings does it take for her to get a kill," Webb said.
"Today, she got a kill just about every other swing, one out
of every two, and that's a great number for her. I think she
played very well in the back row and just had a complete game for
us."
The team will be back in action next Friday and Saturday as the
travel to USC Upstate and East Tennessee State for two more
conference matches. Friday's match starts at 6 p.m. while first
serve for Saturday's match is set for 1 p.m. Friday's match
at USC Upstate will be held on the Wofford campus in Spartansburg,
S.C. The road test will provide further opportunity for the
coaching staff to evaluate the team. For today, though, Coach Webb
was able to enjoy the win.
"Any conference win is a great win, particularly this year
as we are playing a single round-robin schedule," Webb said.
"You cannot take anyone for granted, you can't take any
win lightly, every one is important. Going into next weekend,
obviously ETSU, they're off to a great start this year. They
have a great overall record and they won last night as well. We
know that it's going to be a tough match and that it's
a tough place to play and we're looking forward to having
that opportunity. (USC) Upstate has had some good non-conference
wins to start the year. I believe they're an improved team.
That match will actually be off their campus. It will be over at
Wofford. We're looking forward to going on the road and
seeing where we stack up as we get toward the middle of the
conference schedule."
The next home action for Belmont will be Friday, Oct. 15th, when
they face Campbell in a 6:30 p.m. match at the Curb Event
Center.
Post-Match
Quotes
