NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Belmont volleyball (14-15, 10-5) swept Tennessee State, 25-21, 25-19, 25-23 Tuesday on the road.
Tennessee State (13-16, 9-6) got on the board first, jumping to a 3-1 lead, and behind kills from sophomore Scarlet Gable (Munford, Tenn.) and junior setter Hannah Miranda (Covington, La.) the Bruins were able to tie the opening set at 5-all. Back-to-back service errors from the Tigers gave Belmont the lead before TSU went on a 4-1 run.
Following a 17-all tie, Belmont took a lead it would not relinquish, scoring five unanswered points to take a 22-17 lead. Kills from freshman Jocelyn Youngdahl (Stillwater, Minn.) and junior Allison McCoy (Huntington Beach, Calif.) closed out the set, 25-21.
Tennessee State took control of the second set early on, taking a 7-4 lead. The Tigers' lead was short lived when the Bruins silenced TSU with four unanswered points, taking a 8-7 lead. The Tigers tied it at 8-all, but Belmont continued to extend its lead, leading by as many as 10-points.
Belmont took a 2-0 lead at the break, after winning the second set, 25-19.
Similiar to the first two sets, TSU struck first in the third. The Tigers led most of the set, with both teams going on short runs. Belmont, who trailed by as many as four-points, overcame the deficit and tied the set at 18-all and took the lead off a pair of TSU attack errors. A kill from Youngdahl gave the Bruins a 20-18 lead, before TSU called a timeout.
The set remained close with both squads exchanging points, but Belmont did not give up its lead. A kill from McCoy and a TSU error allowed the Bruins to take 24-21 lead before the Tigers went on a 3-0 run to come within one-point, 24-23, however the Bruins closed out the set, 25-23.
"Our team played well defensively throughout the night, averaging 20 digs and over two blocks per game," said head coach Deane Webb. "Jamie made several key digs in a row late in the match that I feel helped us secure a tough third set win."
Youngdahl led the team with 11 kills, while sophomore Alex Martin (Ooltewah, Tenn.) added 10.
"Alex had another great night offensively. It is great to see her diversify her attacking, and our passers got us in system enough to make that possible," said Webb.
Junior Jamie Lundstrom (La Grange, Ill.) paced the defense with 16 kills, and Gable and junior Jen Myer (New Braunfels, Texas) added 13 and 12 digs, respectively. As a team, Belmont registered seven blocks.
"As a group, we served aggressively yet accurately, and that helped initiate our defense," said Webb. "Scarlet in particular had a couple of serving runs that came at important times."
Belmont closes out the regular season Friday, Nov.9 at Eastern Illinois for a 5:30 p.m. match.
