Volleyball Drops Final Road Match of Season at Evansville on Saturday

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Belmont University volleyball team was unable to overcome a sluggish start and fell to Evansville on the road Saturday, 3-0, at Meeks Family Fieldhouse in Evansville, Indiana.
 
The result officially eliminates the Bruins from participation in the 2022 MVC Tournament, which takes the top eight finishers in the regular season standings.
 
In their final road contest of the season, Belmont (8-22, 4-13 MVC) fell to Evansville (13-18, 10-7 MVC) by a final score of 25-9, 25-22, 25-19.
 
Kristen Clemons was a bright spot for the Bruins, tallying 11 kills on .476 hitting with three blocks. Laura Shoopman chipped in seven kills with seven digs, and Brooke Gilleland and Ally Peterson each added three kills.
 
Behind her 11 kills on Saturday, Clemons hit the 300-kill milestone for the season.
 
With Laura Shoopman owning 376 kills, the duo becomes the first pair of Bruin teammates since Brie Lewis and Arianna Person in 2015 to each record 300 or more kills in a season.
 
Rachel McBride followed up her 17-dig performance against Indiana State on Friday with 16 more digs against Evansville on Saturday. Peyton O'Brien narrowly missed out another double-double, tallying 25 assists with eight digs.
 
The Bruins started slow out of the gate, recording just nine points in the opening frame while finishing with more errors than kills.
 
However, Belmont quickly shook it off in attacking the second set, winning gritty points to go blow-for-blow with Evansville and force ties of 5-5 and 11-11.
 
Back-to-back service aces from Shoopman gave Belmont a 15-13 advantage and forced an Evansville timeout. Later, a Gilleland kill gave the Bruins a 17-15 lead. From there, the Purple Aces rattled off a 3-0 run to regain the advantage, 18-17, and force a Belmont timeout.
 
Evansville would lead the rest of the set, and though Shoopman brought Belmont close at 23-21, the Purple Aces held on to win a crucial second frame, 25-22.
 
In the third set, Belmont hit their best mark of the night, .209, but couldn't slow down the potent attacking combo of Evansville's Giulia Cardona and Alondra Vazquez, who combined for 14 kills in the frame.
 
Evansville led by as many as seven points at 17-10, but Belmont came on strong from there, out-scoring the Purple Aces 9-8 over the final stretch of the match while falling, 25-19.
 
Up Next
 
Belmont finishes out the 2022 season with a home finale against rival Murray State on Wednesday, November 16, at the Curb Event Center.
 
The Bruins took down the Racers on the road earlier this season on September 27, 3-1, for their first win in Murray, Kentucky, since 2015.
 
Tickets for Wednesday's clash are available here.
 
The match will be streamed on ESPN+, with live in-game statistics available on BelmontBruins.com. Highlights and updates will be posted to Twitter by @BelmontVB.
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.