Box Score
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Three Bruins finished with double-digit kills, but Belmont University volleyball still ended up on the wrong end of a 1-3 loss to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) on Saturday afternoon at First Community Arena.
Taylor Floyd finished with 11 kills and 10 digs, Laura Shoopman tallied 11 kills, and Lauren Walsh chipped in ten kills for Belmont (5-12, 3-4 OVC) who won the first set but couldn't halt the Cougars from winning the next three.
The script was flipped from Friday night's outcome, when Belmont dropped the opening frame before bouncing back to win in four. Instead, on Saturday, it was the Bruins getting off to the strong start before seeing the tide turn with a nail-biting 24-26 loss in the second set.
SIUE (5-13, 2-5 OVC) managed to avoid going down 2-0 in sets by pulling out back-to-back points over Belmont in the second set to win 26-24 after being tied 24-24.
The Bruins were never fully able to recover, committing 15 combined errors over the final two sets with just 2.0 total team blocks.
"Overall, SIUE executed a little better than us today," head coach Katelyn Harrison said. "We have a big week with Tennessee State on Tuesday and then Eastern Illinois on Friday and Saturday, but I am ready to get to work on Monday and get better."
In the first set, Belmont looked to pick up right where they left off after Friday night's big win, the Bruins' first-ever victory in Edwardsville. The Bruins relied on a balanced attack that featured Carly Mason and Kailee Bass to roll to a 25-22 win. Belmont hit a scorching .290 in the first set, a turnaround from their struggles in the first set the night prior.
Mason finished with a career-high seven kills, along with 18 assists and five digs.
"I think that Carly has done a tremendous job with her new role," Harrison said. "She is truly becoming a six rotation player that can not only run an offense but be offensive as well."
From there, however, the Cougars edged out the Bruins in Game 2 and used that as a springboard to take command of the match.
Belmont will return to Nashville on Tuesday for a Music City rematch with Tennessee State at Kean Hall. The Bruins beat their travel partner, 3-1, to open up OVC play at the Curb Event Center on Sept. 21. First serve from Tennessee State's campus is at 6 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
Follow Belmont volleyball on social media - @BelmontVB on Twitter and @belmontvball on Instagram - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
