Box Score MURRAY, Ky. - - Belmont Volleyball (17-14, 11-5 OVC) defeated top-seeded Murray State in four sets (20-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-15) to claim the 2015 OVC Volleyball Championship and automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Volleyball Championship.
The Bruins, the tournament two seed, hit .252 for the match.
Belmont won nine out of 11 sets over Morehead State, Tennessee Tech and the host Racers to claim the conference crown.
Sophomore
Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) - fresh off a match-high 30-kill performance in the semifinal victory over Tennessee Tech - recorded a 20 kills and added 13 digs.
Belmont Volleyball will make its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance, second representing the OVC (2006, 2008 - Atlantic Sun; 2012, 2015 - OVC).
Person was named Tournament Most Valuable Player, while teammates
Emma Price (Fort Mill, S.C.) and
Jocelyn Youngdahl (Stillwater, Minn.) were named to the OVC All-Tournament Team.
Price recorded 46 assists along with eight assists and four blocks, Youngdahl finished the night with 12 kills hitting .429 along with eight digs and five blocks. Sophomore
Emily Richards (Penfield, N.Y.) led the defense with 16 digs while redshirt freshman
Alexa Nichols (Walton, Ky.) led the defense at the net with six total blocks.
Murray started out set one strong and took the first four points of the match. A kill from Person gave Belmont their first point of the match. The two teams would trade points and a kill from Lewis and Youngdahl brought Belmont within 3 at 7-10. After a Bruin timeout Belmont roped together three straight and brought the score to 10-12. Murray took the next two regaining their four-point lead. Bruins and Racers traded attack errors followed by a four to one run from Murray that gave them the 19-13 advantage. The two teams traded off points and two straight from Belmont brought them within four 20-24 but a kill from Racers would close out the first set in the favor of Murray.
Three quick kills from Murray, along with a Youngdahl block put the Racers up 3-1. The two teams went point-for-point until a kill from Youngdahl and an ace from Ivancich tied the set at seven. A three-point run from Belmont with a kill from Nichols and Lewis and a block from Person put Belmont up 11-9. The Racers retaliated with two straight tying the set at 11. Point-for-point play continued in the second set but a seven to one run, which included four kills from Person, put Belmont on top 21-16. Murray put together two straight but another kill from Person gave Belmont control again with the 22-18 advantage. An ace from Price gave the Bruins point number 23 and two more kills from Person gave Belmont set two 25-18.
The two squads traded kills to start off set three but a five to one run put the Bruins up 6-3. Murray responded with three straight, which tied the set at 6. Belmont strung together three and took a 9-6 advantage. The Bruins and the Racers would trade off pairs of points until three straight kills from Belmont gave them a 15-11 advantage. It was once again a battle for points as neither team allowed the other to take more then two at a time, but a massive block from Simmons followed by a kill from Youngdahl gave Belmont a five point lead at 21-16. Another pair of kills from Belmont gave them a 23-16 lead. Both teams would trade points, but a kill from Youngdahl gave the Bruins the third set 25-19.
The Racers went up 3-2 to start the fourth set but that didn't faze Belmont as they roped together six straight and took an 8-3 lead. Racers would take one but a pair from Belmont put them on top 10-4. After the Racers called a timeout they came out and took three straight closing the Bruins lead to three 10-7, Belmont took the next three which gave them a 13-7 advantage. Back to back kills from Youngdahl and Person put Belmont in the lead 17-10. Racers took two and brought the score to 13-18, but a kill from Person shut down their run. Belmont continued to push hard against Murray State, and with one last block from Youngdahl and Lewis the Bruins became the 2015 OVC Tournament Champions and earned an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
The 2015 NCAA Volleyball Championship Selection Show will be Sunday, Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
First and second round matches will be played on campus sites Dec. 4-6.
