Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn.-- Belmont won sets one and four, but ultimately
fell in five sets on the road at East Tennessee State, 3-2. The
Bruins dropped to 2-2 in the Atlantic Sun and 8-13 overall.
Belmont battled back after being down two sets to one and forced
a deciding set, but was unable to complete the comeback, falling in
set five 9-15. The fight the team showed in forcing a fifth set was
one of the positives the Bruins will take away from this match.
"There were positives and negatives to take away from this
match," Head Coach Deane Webb said. "The positive is
that we competed very hard in game four. The level of
intensity and the competitive character displayed during that game
is something we want to be a habit for our team going
forward."
The Bruins won set one, 25-20, and set four, 25-21. Junior
Maggie Johnson (Naperville, Ill.) led the team with 11 kills, while
Albritton added 10 kills. Junior Channing Salava (Clearwater, Fla.)
had 22 assists while senior libero Megan Clements (Indianapolis,
Ind.) turned in a team high 17 digs. Belmont again had 10 service
aces, including three apiece from seniors Kayla Albritton
(Gainesville, Fla.) and Carly Frazier (Stillwater, Okla.), but it
was not enough to hold off ETSU on the Bucs' home court.
"I am very pleased with where we are in terms of
serving," Webb said. "Two matches in a row of ten
aces is a good indicator of the progress our team is making in this
area."
In a match that saw 21 ties and nine lead changes, Belmont and
ETSU were close in every category, including the score board. The
Bruins posted 29 kills while the Bucs had 30, recorded 41 assists
while ETSU had 51, had 10 aces to the Bucs seven, and posted 21
blocks to ETSU's 19. ETSU entered the match leading the
conference in that category with 2.63 blocks per set.
"Our players competed well in the match," Webb said.
"Their hitters put a little more pace on the ball than we
did, and their libero was truly a difference maker in the
match. She erased a great number of near kills."
The team dropped to 1-8 in five set matches this season, and are
now 6-3 all time against ETSU, with all three losses coming in
Johnson City, Tenn. Even though another five-set loss stings, Coach
Webb has seen improvements in his team and hopes that further
improvements can be made as the team approaches the midway point of
the conference schedule.
"Our improvements (that we still need to make) are mostly
in consistency," Webb said. "There have been days
where we've displayed excellence in one skill, such as
out-blocking the number one blocking team in the conference on
Saturday. It is a question of whether we can establish who we
are instead of relying on raising one part of our game to match an
opponent's strength."
The team returns home to take on Campbell Friday, Oct. 15, in a
6:30 p.m. matchup in the Curb Event Center.
