ATLANTA, Ga. -- In a thrilling five-set match, the Belmont University volleyball team rallied from down two sets to one and fended off three match points in the fifth set to clinch a 3-2 victory over Georgia State on Saturday at GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta.Â
Belmont (1-2, 0-0 MVC) edged out Georgia State (0-3, 0-0 Sun Belt) 25-23, 21-25, 21-25, 25-19, 21-19, to secure their first win of the 2022 season.
Laura Shoopman recorded a career-high 27 kills in the win, the fifth-most in a match in program history. The junior from Salem, Wisc., hit .351 and collected 11 digs for the double-double.
For the third match in a row, junior
Rachel McBride finished with double-digit digs, collecting 16 on the day, and sophomore
Elizabeth Godfrey, in her first start as a Bruin, picked up ten digs. Sophomore
Peyton O'Brien finished with 32 assists, while freshman
Lilly Lutz added 21 assists, the most in her young career.Â
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Belmont collected 12 service aces in the match, the most for the Bruins since Sep. 22, 2017. Lutz provided three aces of her own, while McBride, O'Brien, and
Ally Peterson each had two aces.Â
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With the match coming down to the wire and the fifth game in extra points, a couple of block assists from Clemons, O'Brien, and
Sydney Willis, along with a pair of kills from Shoopman, set the stage for
Lauren Walsh to deliver the dagger with a kill down the left line.Â
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"We had momentum switches throughout the match, and I think they came out and responded," head coach
Katelyn Harrison said. "Game five, the big thing was just to get a lead and hold it, and I'm really proud that towards the 15-point mark when it flipped so that Georgia State got the lead, we were able to battle back and continue to keep the pressure on and execute in the end."Â
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In the first set, Peterson and O'Brien powered the Bruin offense with four kills each to help Belmont take a 1-0 lead with a 25-23 win. Electric hustle on the back-row from McBride, Godfrey, and others kept Belmont in rallies over and over, allowing the pin hitters plenty of chances to put points away.
After Georgia State rallied to take each of the next two sets by a score of 25-21, Belmont entered the fourth frame with little room for error.Â
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The Bruins responded in a big way, going to Shoopman time and again to the tune of seven kills on 13 swings. With Lutz and O'Brien trading places at setter to stay fresh, the rest of the Bruin attack ran smoothly and outscored the Panthers, 25-19, to force a decisive game five.Â
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In a frenetic fifth set, neither team led by more than two points the entire way, with the two squads trading blows and unable to put the other away until Walsh delivered the final kill on the bench-side of the court.Â
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Up NextÂ
Belmont returns to the Curb Event Center on Tuesday, Aug. 30, for their home opener against crosstown rival Lipscomb. First serve in the latest edition of the Battle of the Boulevard is set for 6 p.m.Â
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This season, tickets will be required for entry to home volleyball matches. Single-match and season tickets can be purchased
here.Â
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The match will be broadcast on ESPN+, and live stats will be available on BelmontBruins.com.Â
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Follow Belmont volleyball on social media -Â
@BelmontVBÂ on Twitter andÂ
@belmontvball on Instagram - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via theÂ
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