Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Belmont forced a fourth set with Lipscomb, but ultimately fell 1-3 to the Lady Bisons in Allen Arena. The Bruins finished the regular season 13-14 and 7-3 in conference play.
Belmont came into the match with a five game winning streak and hoped to spoil Lipscomb's chance at a second-consecutive undefeated conference season. The Bruins fell in the first set, 9-25, before making the following three sets much more competitive, falling in set two, 19-25, winning set three, 25-22, and falling in the fourth set 20-25.
"Our team played our way into the match tonight, but weren't prepared emotionally when the match started," Head Coach Deane Webb said. "That is my fault as the coach. We were prepared mentally, but not emotionally. In the third and fourth sets, we were able to take advantage of some opportunities that presented themselves earlier in the match."
The Bruins were led by senior Kayla Albritton (Gainesville, Fla.), who finished with 16 kills. Senior Tara Blood (Boise, Idaho) continued her strong play in the middle with 10 kills and a team-high .450 hitting percentage. Freshman Hannah Miranda (Covington, La.) led the team with 41 assists. Belmont leads the conference in service aces, but struggled to use that to their advantage tonight, registering only six aces. Freshman Jen Myer (New Braunfels, Texas) accounted for four of the Bruins' six aces.
"Jen and Tara competed very well tonight, and gave great energy to our team," Webb said. "Competing well in the last two sets while having four freshmen on the court is a good indicator of not only how good we can be right now, but also how good our program can be in the future."
The Bruins will have to wait and see where they will be seeded for the conference tournament.
"We will take tomorrow off before turning our focus toward postseason play," Webb said of how his team will rebound from the loss.
Belmont had jumped to third place in the standings with last weekend's wins, but was only one game ahead of ETSU. ETSU defeated Belmont 1-3 earlier this season. Conference tournament pairings should be announced later this week. The Bruins will head back to Fort Myers, Fla. only a week after taking on FGCU there, to play in the Atlantic Sun Tournament. The tournament begins November 19th.
