Box Score CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - - Belmont (6-9) rebounded from a
disappointing five-set loss to James Madison Saturday morning to
defeat Central Florida in straight sets and finish the Country Inn
& Suites Invitational 2-1. Senior Tara Blood
(Boise, Idaho) and freshman Allison
McCoy (Huntington Beach, Fla.) were named to the All-Tournament
team. It was the second all-tournament honor for Blood and the
first career honor for McCoy.
After opening the tournament with a straight-set victory over
host Chattanooga, the Bruins started the day Saturday taking on
first time opponent James Madison out of the Colonial Athletic
Association. Belmont fell in the first set 22-25, before winning
set two 25-20. The pattern would continue as the Bruins fell in set
three, 28-26 and took set four 25-15 to force a deciding fifth set.
Belmont was 1-4 coming into the day in five-set matches and were
unable to improve that record, falling to the Dukes 15-13 in the
deciding set. The Bruins have now lost their last three consecutive
five-set matches by two points.
"We competed well in the JMU match," Head Coach Deane Webb said.
"Games four and five were played about as well defensively as we've
played all year. Unfortunately we had a few too many unforced
errors in game five, and that was the difference in the
match. Overall, it was a good performance."
Junior Maggie
Johnson (Naperville, Ill.) led Belmont with 19 kills in the
first match. She also recorded 11 digs and five blocks for the
Bruins. Junior setter Channing
Salava (Clearwater, Fla.) turned in 52 assists to lead all
players while the Belmont freshman had a big first match with three
players turning in new career highs. Freshman Jen Myer (New
Braunfels, Texas) had 12 kills for her first double-digit-kill
effort, McCoy recorded 10 blocks for her first double-digit-block
match, and freshman Jamie
Lundstrom (La Grange, Ill.) had 10 digs for her first
double-digit-dig match.
"Any individual getting 10 blocks is outstanding, and for a
freshman to achieve that this early in their career - it really is
quite an accomplishment," Webb said. "Jamie is becoming a spark
plug for our team. She can play any of the three back
row positions, and is improving daily."
The double-digit kill effort was a first from Myer, but she
garnered her second double-digit kill match against Central
Florida. After starting the year playing only the back row for the
Bruins, Myer has recently played all the way around and has
improved as she has adjusted to that new role.
"Jen had a very good tournament overall," Webb said. "She
is still getting used to playing front row at the college level,
and she seems to grow every time she's out on the court. She
hit over .270 in two of the three matches this weekend - great
numbers for an outside hitter."
The Bruins looked to rebound from the earlier loss with a match
against Central Florida. Belmont was 0-4 against the Knights before
this afternoon's victory. This was the first meeting between the
two teams on a neutral court. It took two extended sets for the
Bruins to claim the victory, taking set one 26-24, set two 25-22,
and set three 26-24. Johnson and Myer shared team-high honors with
11 kills each. Myer also had a team-high 16 digs to garner her
first career double-double. Freshman Hannah
Miranda (Covington, La.) led Belmont with 26 assists while
Salava added 12. Blood led all hitters with a .438 hitting
percentage, hitting over .400 for the second match of the
tournament. She hit .500 against Chattanooga on Friday. Overall,
the Bruins used contributions from multiple sources to defeat
UCF.
"As we become more balanced, we will get more difficult to
defend," Webb said. "It was obvious going into the weekend that
every team we played came into the weekend with the goal to stop
Kayla (Albritton). She didn't have the kind of numbers that
she has had on some other weekends, but the defensive respect given
to her allowed other players to hit against single blocks."
Belmont will head to Western Kentucky for a non-conference match
up on Tuesday night with first serve at 7 p.m. The Bruins will
return home to face Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday, Sept. 25, in a
non-conference match. First serve for that match is set for 2 p.m.
As the team wraps up the non-conference portion of the 2010
schedule, Coach Webb and his staff will have an opportunity to see
how much progress the team has made and to turn their attention to
conference play.
"We are looking forward to two more non-conference matches,"
Webb said. "Our team has improved in many ways over the last
month, and I'm confident that we'll be ready when conference play
begins."
Post-Match Quotes
