Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For the second tournament in a row, Belmont Volleyball (4-0) had to battle to a fifth set to decide a match. The Bruins held off Mercer (1-3), 3-2, (25-19, 20-25, 20-25, 25-15, 15-11) to win its first contest of the Bruiser Showcase.
After a tense back and forth battle to start set one, the Bruins jumped ahead 11-7 forcing the Mercer bench to burn an early time out with junior Ellie Ivancich (Naperville, Ill.) serving four consecutive points. The Bears trimmed the lead to three points but Belmont pulled away for good down the stretch, fueled by six kills by junior Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) and four by redshirt sophomore Alexa Nichols (Walton, Ky.). BU went on to take the opening set, 25-19.
The Bruins were on all cylinders in set two, going up by as many as four points early on. Unfortunately, a series of both attacking and blocking errors by BU helped Mercer close the gap to one point, 14-13, and saw Belmont call its first time out of the day. MU knotted the score at 15 before a ball handing error broke the stalemate. The Bears grew their lead to 21-19 with more unforced errors and pushed to take the set, 25-20.
Mercer continued its hot streak into set three, going up 6-3 early. However, a cross court kill by junior Brie Lewis (Stillwell, Kan.) followed by her first ace of the afternoon, moved BU to within one, 9-8. MU continued to take advantage of Belmont's hitting errors and expanded its lead to six, 16-10, forcing the Bruins to call timeout. Back-to-back block assists by Person and freshman Hannah Hickman (The Woodlands, Texas) closed the gap to four points, 17-13, and initiated another Mercer timeout. BU continued to rally with a service ace by junior Emma Price (Fort Mill, S.C.) and five more consecutive points to knot the score at 17. Unfortunately, more late errors handed the set to the Bears, 25-20.
Down 2-1 in sets, Belmont dug deep for the start of set four, coming out hot to a 6-1 start. The Bruins continued to roll, using kills by Price and Person to go up, 10-5. The Bears called timeout but it did little to stop the streaking Bruins. BU expanded its lead to 18-9 with a kill by sophomore Tori Simmons (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and did not look back, taking the set, 25-15.
MU went up 2-0 to open the fifth and deciding set before the Bruins sprang into action with a kill by Person. She then went on to notch back-to-back service aces to give Belmont the lead, 3-2. Mercer did not give up easily, evening the score at 7-7 and it went on to surge late in the set, closing the gap to one point, 11-10. Belmont called timeout to regroup and Mercer squandered a chance to make a move with a service error. Price followed with a deep service ace to put BU ahead, 13-10. With victory in reach, Belmont dug in and pulled out the 15-11 set win to take the match, 3-2.
Person led all attackers with a game-high 21 kills, en route to notching a double-double with 12 digs. Lewis added 10 kills in the effort. Ivancich led the team with 14 digs while Price collected 46 assists.
Belmont returns to action later on Friday at 6 p.m. for the final match of day one at the Bruiser Showcase. The Bruins take on William & Mary. Video and live stats will be available for the contest. Fans can also follow the team's Twitter feed (@BelmontVB) for live, in-game updates.
