Box Score COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Despite a valiant effort in each set, Belmont Volleyball was unable to notch the win on Saturday afternoon in its final match of the 2019 season. The Bruins (2-29, 1-15 OVC) were held off at Tennessee Tech (13-16, 9-7 OVC), 3-1.
Belmont started hot in the opening frame with a 5-0 run, including a pair of kills from junior Halee Van Poppel (Argyle, Texas) and one more plus a service ace from sophomore Mary Catherine Ball (Hendersonville, N.C.). The Golden Eagles were able to catch up and knot the score, 9-9. The teams fell into a back and forth battle through the midpoint of the set, being locked in nine scoring stalemates. Suddenly, Tennessee Tech exploded for five straight points to go up, 23-19. The Bruin bench called for its first huddle session of the day to get resettled. Despite the pause in the action, TTU did not let up in the waning points and took the set, 25-19.
Tennessee Tech rolled off six consecutive points at the top of the second set before freshman Lauren Walsh (Torrance, Calif.) drilled a deep kill to get the Bruins back into action, trailing 6-2. Belmont hustled to whittle the point differential down to one point, 9-8, following kills by Ball and junior Mackenzie LePage (Franklin, Tenn.). The Golden Eagles surged again, this time, grabbing a five-point lead, 17-12. Once again, BU began chipping away at the point deficit and surged late, managing to move within four, 23-19, forcing the TTU bench to call for a timeout. Despite an additional kill from Van Poppel, TTU was able to take the frame, 25-20.
The Bruins were able to grab the early lead in the third stanza with back-to-back kills coming from Walsh, with help from senior Huntir Bass (Mobile, Ala.) and Ball. A solo block by newcomer MacKenzie Harless (Brownsburg, Ind.) was enough to separate the teams by one points, 6-5. Tennessee Tech was able to rally and tie the score at 11 but Ball delivered a kill to the center of the court to keep BU ahead. Belmont built momentum and used a 3-0 flurry to pull away, 17-14. The run forced the Golden Eagles to burn a timeout. After the brief break, TTU was able to knot the score at 18 but the Bruins looked to continuing riding the wave. However, Belmont called for a huddle session after falling behind by one, 22-21, as TTU quickly rallied. This time it would be Tennessee Tech to call for a timeout as BU creeped to within one, 24-23. Belmont would not be denied and knotted the score three more times before using a Harless kill to stand at set point, 27-26. The Golden Eagles folded under the pressure and an attack error sealed the 28-26 win for BU.
The teams traded points early in set four before Belmont began to put space between the two with a 5-1 run, thanks to a Van Poppel service ace and block assist by Ball and Harless. The Golden Eagles were able to quickly knot the score, 8-8, before hustling to take a narrow lead. TTU did not look back, pushing to grab its biggest lead of the day, seven points, 20-13. The Bruins continued to claw at the point differential but a 3-0 run helped seal the 25-16 win for Tennessee Tech.
For the match, sophomore Mary Catherine Ball (Hendersonville, N.C.) and freshman Lauren Walsh (Torrance, Calif.) each notched 15 kills, followed by junior Halee Van Poppel (Argyle, Texas) with 14. Sophomore Carly Mason (Forsyth, Ill.) tallied 34 assists. Van Poppel also posted a double-double with 13 digs in the effort. Sophomore Faith Cobaugh (Union, Ky.) led BU in digs with 14. Van Poppel and newcomer MacKenzie Harless (Brownsburg, Ind.) each recorded a solo block.
Belmont concludes the 2019 campaign with a 2-29 record overall and a 1-15 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play.
