Box Score NEW ORLEANS, La. - - Belmont (9-6) defeated South Alabama (5-6) in straight sets in the Bruins' final match of the Kathy Trosclair Memorial tournament hosted by Tulane. The win gave Belmont its second straight invitational tournament title, after the Bruins won the Kangaroo Klassic last weekend. The straight set victory was the second in three matches for Belmont, who also defeated Lamar in straight sets to open tournament play in New Orleans yesterday. The win didn't come easy for the Bruins as they faced a tough South Alabama team.
"I am proud of our team for earning another tournament win," Head Coach Deane Webb said. "We didn't play our best match today, but we had enough focus at the end of each game to earn the win against a scrappy South Alabama team."
Sophomore setter Hannah Miranda was named the tournament MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament team by senior Maggie Johnson and sophomore Jen Myer. Miranda finished the match with 40 assists, capping off a weekend where the Louisiana native turned in 111 assists, over 10 per set, while helping the Bruins to the tournament title. Miranda currently leads the Atlantic Sun in assists and today led the team with three service aces as well, helping the Bruins hold their conference lead in that category. Belmont also got 18 kills from Johnson, who led the Bruins in kills for the fourth straight match this week and made an All-Tournament team for the third straight weekend. Johnson leads the A-Sun in kills and points and was named the Preseason Conference Player of the Year by league coaches at the start of the season. Myer turned in 12 kills and hit a season-best .423 with only one attack error on the day.
"Hannah was focused throughout the weekend, and kept our team focused in moments where we could have lost our way," Webb said. "It was great to see a player come back to her hometown, get a win versus Tulane, and then be recognized by the coaches at the event by earning MVP."
Belmont also got another strong performance from sophomore Allison McCoy, who turned in seven kills, a team high .538 hitting percentage, nine digs and four blocks. Defensively the Bruins were led by sophomore libero Jamie Lundstrom, who posted 20 digs in the match. The Bruin defense was on full display in set two, when Belmont held South Alabama to under .100 hitting while hitting over .400 for the set. Belmont won set two, 25-14, while winning sets one and three by identical 25-23 scores. The tournament marked improvement for a young Bruin team that struggled to find wins early in the season.
"Our team really has improved in the last few weeks," Webb said. "Our serving, floor defense, and passing have carried us in many matches so far, and we anticipate improvements in hitting and blocking in the weeks to come."
The Bruins will continue their five match road-swing next weekend when they begin conference play on the road at Kennesaw State on Friday, September 23rd, before heading to Macon, Ga., for a match against Mercer on Saturday, September 24th. Belmont finished the non-conference portion of their schedule at 9-6 with two invitational tournament titles. The Bruins went 7-3 in conference play last season en route to a fourth place finish. Belmont was picked to finish third in the Atlantic Sun in the Preseason Coaches' Poll.
"Next weekend begins that our season is all about - conference play," Webb said. "Starting with Kennesaw State, we have an opportunity to compete with one of the conference teams that was picked higher than us. They had a great deal of success last season, and I know they are hoping for even greater successes this year. Mercer has already shown the ability to play at a high level this season, and we'll need to play at a high level for both matches to get the start to conference play that we desire."
