CHICAGO, Ill. -- The three-match conference winning streak of the Belmont University volleyball team was snapped on Friday night, as they fell in three sets to the University of Illinois Chicago at Flames Athletic Center in Chicago, Illinois.Â
The Bruins fell 14-25, 18-25, 20-25, to a surging UIC squad that has now won four Missouri Valley Conference contests in a row.Â
Belmont (7-12, 3-3 MVC) made a push in the third frame to force a fourth set, cutting things to an 18-20 deficit, but the Flames took five of the final seven points to secure the sweep.Â
Laura Shoopman tallied 14 kills for the Bruins, shouldering the offensive load as she finished with more than half of Belmont's 27 kills.Â
Peyton O'Brien collected 22 assists, and Rachel McBride tallied a team-high nine digs.Â
UIC (12-6, 4-2 MVC) was red-hot, hitting .343 as a team and above .300 in each of the three sets. Â
The Bruins hit .200 and hung close in a more even third set, trailing 11-13 and 13-15. A string of kills from Shoopman, O'Brien, and Ally Peterson put Belmont in position to potentially make a late surge, but a service error and an attacking error placed the Bruins in too big of a hole, as the Flames were able to close out the match.Â
Belmont tallied five service aces across the three sets, getting an ace from five different players: McBride, O'Brien, Kristen Clemons, Elizabeth Godfrey, and Lilly Lutz.Â
Up NextÂ
Belmont will look to rebound quickly, as they travel to Valparaiso, Indiana, on Saturday for a Missouri Valley Conference matchup with the Valparaiso Beacons.Â
First serve from the ARC Arena is scheduled for 5 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN3, and live stats will be available on BelmontBruins.com. In-game updates will be posted to Twitter by @BelmontVB.Â
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.           Â
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