Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Returning home after a
four-match-road-swing last week was bittersweet for Belmont, who
fell in another five set heartbreaker, this time to Chattanooga,
2-3. The Bruins lost the first set, 25-27, before taking the next
two sets 25-18 and 25-20. Chattanooga battled back to take an
extended set four, 25-27, before also winning the deciding set
13-15.
Early in the season, Head Coach Deane Webb likened his team's
play at times to a roller coaster because his young freshmen were
still learning the ropes. The roller coaster continued Tuesday
night, as the Bruins searched for in-game consistency, not only
from inexperienced underclassmen, but also from veteran returners.
Webb cited a lack of discipline on the part of his team as the main
force behind Tuesday's disappointing outcome.
"I think the big difference here was that we were not very
disciplined defensively," Webb said. "We scored and scored often,
particularly early, and as games went on, we lost our focus. It
really was just a lack of discipline. It really wasn't a lack of
discipline with our young kids, it was a lack of discipline with
our upperclassmen and that's something that we need to fix very
quickly."
Offensively, the Bruins had one of their best nights this
season, with four players earning double-digit kill marks and two
players, junior Maggie
Johnson (Naperville, Ill.,) and senior Kayla
Albritton (Gainesville, Fla.) turning in 20 kill performances.
Senior Tara Blood
(Boise, Idaho) added 11 kills and freshman Allison
McCoy (Huntington Beach, Calif.) recorded her first career
double-digit kill total with 10.
Chattanooga needed extra points to beat the Bruins in set one
and Belmont fell in spite of hitting .353 for the set and recording
17 kills. Unforced errors, which have been a sort of Achilles' heel
for the Bruins so far this season, again proved costly in the first
set. Belmont committed eight service errors and recorded no aces in
the two point decision.
"I think the key moment was how we started the match," Webb
said. "In set one, we lose by two and we miss nine serves. That's
an unbelievably high number of missed serves. I think that set the
tone for the match. We were down a game even though we out-hit
them. We hit .350 in game one and lose because we missed so many
serves. We dominate the next two sets and then, the last two sets,
I really attribute to lack of focus, both hitting and also
defensively."
There were times throughout the night when it seemed as though
Chattanooga would distance itself from Belmont, but the Bruins got
big plays from their big guns at key moments in the tightly
contested sets. Timely plays by Albritton and Johnson kept Belmont
in the match and within striking distance.
"I think Kayla and Maggie attacked well throughout the entire
match," Webb said. "I really believe Tara, at the beginning of the
match, attacked well and then struggled late. It's just something
that the bigger issue is just defense. As our hitting percentage
was going down, theirs was going up. I can live with our hitting
percentage numbers, hitting almost .270 for the night, that's a
very good number. Losing focus at the end of games and not being in
the right place defensively, that's just something that shouldn't
happen at our level with as many players out there that have
experience. "
The Bruins head to West Lafeyette, Ind., Friday and
Saturday, to take part in the Active Ankle Challenge hosted by
Purdue University. Belmont will face Connecticut, Duquesne and
Purdue over the course of the two day event. Tournament play kicks
off for the Bruins against Connecticut out of the Big East at 11
a.m. Friday. Belmont will also take on Duquesne in a 4:00 match
Friday afternoon. The Bruins finish out play against the host
Purdue Boilermakers with a 6 p.m. first serve on Saturday. The next
home action for Belmont will be next Tuesday, Sept. 14, as Lipscomb
comes to the Curb Event Center for the first installment of the
2010 Battle on the Boulevard. First serve for that match is set for
5 p.m.
Post-Match Quotes
