NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Belmont volleyball dropped a five-set heartbreaker in the season opener to Memphis Friday night in the Curb Event Center.
Freshman Jessical Vestal (Concord, Calif.) and junior Scarlet Gable (Munford, Tenn.) were huge contributors to the Bruins in front of a great crowd. Vestal, who redshirted last year, recorded her first career double-double with 17 kills and 13 digs. While Gable also registered a double-double with a team-high 20 kills and 10 digs.
In the first set, Memphis jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but a kill from senior Danielle Prochaska (Middleton, Wisc.) cut the Tigers' lead to 9-5. Memphis went on to score eight unanswered points before junior Scarlet Gable (Munford, Tenn.) ended their run. The Tigers went on to take set one, 25-13.
Belmont got on the board first in the second set with a kill from senior Allison McCoy (Huntington Beach, Calif.). Vestal then recorded her first collegiate kill for the Bruins. Her three straight kills put the Bruins ahead 8-7.
The set remained a back-and-forth battle, but Memphis took a 2-0 advantage heading into the intermission.
The Bruins jumped out to an early 7-4 lead in set three, but Memphis bounced back taking the lead before a kill from Gable tied the set at 9. A kill from junior Alex Martin (Ooltewah, Tenn.) sparked a 4-0 run to put BU ahead 18-16.
Memphis tied the set at 23, but a pair of kills from Gable put the Bruins on top 25-24. The Tigers answered with back-to-back points to take a 26-25 lead and gain a match point, before Belmont fought back to tie it at 26. Behind a service ace from Gable and a kill from Martin, Belmont took set three, 28-26.
Belmont controlled the fourth set, winning 25-17 to force a deciding set. The Bruins jumped out to an early lead scoring four unanswered points. Gable and Vestal both played vital roles for BU in the last three sets.
The Bruins took control again in the fifth set. McCoy and senior setter Hannah Miranda (Covington, La.) had a huge block to put BU's up 9-7 before they extended their lead to 13-9 off a huge kill by Vestal.
But Memphis responded by tying the set at 13. Vestal silenced the Tigers to regain the Bruins' lead, and give Belmont its own match point at 14-13, but the Tigers would score the final three points of the match.
Miranda tallied a game-high 50 assists, while senior libero Jamie Lundstrom (La Grange, Ill.) recorded a match-high 31 digs. Lundstrom is 54 digs away from being Belmont's all-time leader.
Belmont will return to action tomorrow at 12:30 against Gardner-Webb in the sixth annual Belmont Invitational.
NOTES: The crowd of 1,012 that attended the Belmont-Memphis match was the largest home crowd in Belmont history.
