Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - The Belmont (16-8, 7-1 A-Sun) volleyball team won in straight sets on Saturday afternoon, dominating Stetson (5-16, 1-8 A-Sun) by a combined 21 points. The Bruins trailed only three times in the match and hit .232 while the Hatters only hit .129. The day was highlighted by Maggie Johnson and Scarlet Gable who helped Belmont win the final set 25-21 in the Curb Event Center.
"Our team this year has done a great job of closing out games," head coach Deane Webb said. "It was an interesting match and we may not have played at as high a level as I would have liked but we worked hard throughout the match. I think if it's close we have done a good job of remaining mentally strong and finishing and that was the case today."
Maggie Johnson got a kill to open the match and Belmont retained the lead for the rest of the set, finishing off Stetson 25-16. 14 of the team's 25 points came off kills with Johnson leading the pack with five. The Bruins aced three serves with no errors and outshot the Hatters .250 to .135 during the first game.
After Belmont took the first point in the second set, Stetson jumped out to a 3-1 lead and stuck with the Bruins for most of the game. Hannah Miranda got things going for Belmont by recording a kill with the team up 16-15, starting a 9-2 run to close out the set. A key factor was that the Bruins only made three errors while the Hatters had six. Miranda also had four of her six total kills in the set.
Coach Webb noted that the team showed more consistency which helped them earn the victory. "We had a number of players that were successful today and displayed a balanced performance. We were a little more comfortable which helped us get the win."
The consistency showed in the third set when Belmont went up 3-2 after being down early and maintained the lead for the remainder of the match. Despite hitting only .162 percent and recording seven errors, the Bruins were able to get 13 kills with Johnson recording six of them before Kelsi Dean had the final one to put the game away.
Johnson's 15 kills and .394 hitting percent led the team while Jamie Lundstrom had a team-high 14 digs. The Bruins had four team blocks and junior Amy Van Buren led the team with two block assists. Belmont was able to record five service aces with Gable notching two and held Stetson to one throughout the match.
Belmont improves to 11-6 against Stetson and has continued to dominate the Hatters at home, moving to 7-1. This marks the ninth time that Belmont has won in straight sets and the fourth time doing it on its home court. The Bruins have now won in straight sets four different times when coming off a loss.
Belmont will return to the Curb Event Center to host rival Lipscomb on October 25 at 6:30 p.m.
