Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont (6-11) fell to Florida Gulf Coast
(3-10) in five sets at the Curb Event Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Bruins won the first two sets, 25-16, 25-20 before falling in
the remaining three sets 20-25, 21-25 and 16-14.
This was the seventh five set match for Belmont this season and
going to the deciding game hasn't been a good omen for the Bruins
who fell to 1-6 in five-set matches with the loss. Belmont
struggled to maintain its focus and competitive edge after jumping
out to the two set lead.
"I think it's pretty simple today," he said. "I thought our
middles played well and there are some positives to take away
there, but I think today we just weren't very courageous."
Belmont was led by senior Kayla
Albritton (Gainesville, Fla.) who recorded 19 kills. Albritton
was one of four Bruins to record double-digit kills in the match.
Hannah
Miranda (Covington, La.) paced the team in set assists with 62.
Service aces, usually an advantage for Belmont, were hard to come
by and the Bruins only recorded four aces on the afternoon while
committing 18 service errors, many at costly junctures of the
match.
Five freshmen started for the Bruins again today as injuries
have made the team short-handed at the close of the non-conference
slate. Webb, however, wasn't using injuries or anything else as an
excuse for his team's disappointing performance.
"It wasn't an issue with injuries," Webb said. "If we win games
one and two as easily as we did today, then we can't really use any
other excuse other than we just weren't competitive enough as the
match went on and we weren't mentally strong enough."
Belmont will have a long week with no Tuesday night matches for
the first time all season. The extended time off should help the
Bruins prepare for conference play, which begins next week against
Kennesaw State in a 6:30 p.m. match up on Friday, Oct. 1st. Belmont
will also welcome Mercer to the Curb Event Center on Saturday, Oct.
2, for a 2 p.m. meeting.
Although they weren't able to come away with a win, the
continued experience gained by the young members of the team should
ultimately help the Bruins down the road. Competing in another
five-set match provided many of the inexperienced players the
opportunity to continue to grow and improve.
"It (a fifth set) is an opportunity," Webb said. "It's an
opportunity to get better in a fifth game setting. It's no secret
that we've struggled in fifth games this year, but it was an
opportunity to get better. We attacked fairly well in the fifth
game, but we missed four serves. In a 15 point game when you serve
14 times and miss four--and only one of those was an aggressive
miss-- that's not going to allow us to be successful. We have to be
more competitive, more aggressive and more courageous."
Post-Match Quotes
