Volleyball Heads Across Town for Tiger Invitational

Belmont (2-8, 0-0 MVC) at Tennessee State (2-7, 0-0 OVC) 

Thursday, Sept. 15 | 6pm 

ESPN+ | Live Stats | Match Notes 

Belmont vs. Bethune Cookman (0-9, 0-0 SWAC) 

Friday, Sept. 16 | 10am 

Live Stats 

Belmont vs. Alcorn State (1-9, 0-0 SWAC) 

Friday, Sept. 16 | 3pm 

Live Stats
Kean Hall | Nashville, Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Belmont University volleyball team wraps up their non-conference schedule with three matches at the Tiger Invitational this week, hosted by Tennessee State here in the Music City. 

The Bruins will face former OVC rival Tennessee State on Thursday evening in a match that will be streamed on ESPN+ before taking on SWAC opponents Bethune-Cookman and Alcorn State on Friday. 

All three games will be played at Kean Hall. Tickets will be $10 for one day or $20 for the entire tournament session, and can be purchased here.

Live stats for all three matches will be available on BelmontBruins.com and in-game updates will be posted to Twitter by @BelmontVB.  

About the Bruins 

• Belmont is coming off a 3-1 win over Grambling State last Saturday at the Blue Raider Invitational in Murfreesboro 

• The Bruins out-hit the Tigers, .315 to .199, and out-blocked their opponent 8.0 to 3.0. Laura Shoopman finished with a match-high 20 kills, one of four Bruins to hit the double-digits plateau in kills. Peyton O'Brien dished out a career-high 47 assists and Ally Peterson set a career-high for digs with 15. 

• The win snapped a six-match skid, and capped a 1-2 showing at the Blue Raider Invite that included a 3-0 loss to UT Martin and a narrow 3-2 defeat at the hands of Middle Tennessee 

• Junior outside hitter Laura Shoopman was named to the All-Tournament Team for the second week in a row 

• The native of Salem, Wisc., has recorded at least 20 kills in each of her last two contests (23 at Middle Tennessee and 20 vs. Grambling State), and leads the Missouri Valley Conference in kills (152) and is third in kills per set (3.80) 

• Shoopman, who ranks 14th in the country in kills (152) is 20 kills away from recording 750 for her career 

• Junior middle blocker Kristen Clemons ranks fifth in the MVC in total blocks (36), fifth in hitting percentage (.346), and 11th in kills (96) 

• Junior outside hitter Ally Peterson is eighth in the MVC in service aces (12) 

• Junior libero Rachel McBride is sixth in the MVC in digs (134). On Saturday against Grambling State, McBride recorded her 750th career dig 

• Sophomore setter Peyton O'Brien is coming off her two best matches as a Bruin. The native of Libertyville, Ill., picked up 44 assists and six digs against Middle Tennessee on Friday before tallying a career-high 47 assists and a career-high 16 digs against Grambling State on Saturday 

• Belmont is 2-1 this season when out-blocking their opponent 

• Belmont is fifth in the MVC in blocks (69.5) and fifth in service aces (58) 

• Trailing 2-1 in sets and down 24-20 in the fourth frame against Middle Tennessee last weekend, the Bruins rattled off an amazing 6-0 run to stay alive and force a fifth set with a 26-24 victory. The Blue Raiders went on to win the decisive fifth set, 15-12. 

About the Tigers 

• Belmont and Tennessee State have faced one common opponent this year, Lipscomb. The Tigers fell to the Bisons, 15-25, 15-25, 19-25. 

• Tennessee State is coming off a 3-2 loss to Utah Tech in Berkeley, California, last weekend. The Tigers took the first two sets before the dropping the final three 

• Tennessee State was picked tenth in the OVC Preseason Coaches Poll 

• The Tigers picked up a huge win on September 6 at MVC opponent Evansville, upsetting the Purple Aces, 3-1 

• Fifth-year libero Gina Rivera-Ortiz is the program-record holder with 2,003 career digs 

About the Wildcats 

• Bethune-Cookman is still searching for their first win of 2022 

• The Wildcats are coming off a 3-0 loss to former Belmont conference opponent, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville 

• Opponents are out-hitting Bethune-Cookman, .268 to .106 this season 

• Alleah Dallas leads the SWAC in blocks per set (1.09) and total blocks (35.0) 

About the Braves 

• Alcorn State has been swept in eight of their ten matches this season 

• Opponents are out-hitting Alcorn State, .300 to .061 

• Faith Archibong leads the team with 60 kills 

Series History 

• Belmont has faced Tennessee State 41 times in program history, the second-most meetings with any opponent (Lipscomb, 46), and leads the all-time series 27-14 

• Thursday marks the first time since 2009 that the two programs have met as non-conference opponents, as Belmont was a member of the Ohio Valley Conference from the 2012 to 2021 seasons. 

• Belmont won both matches against the Tigers last season, 3-1 at the Curb Event Center on September 21 and 3-2 at Kean Hall on October 12 

• Belmont has faced Bethune-Cookman twice, both at the Trojan Classic in Troy, Alabama, beating them 3-1 in 2000 and 3-0 in 2001 

• Belmont and Alcorn State met for the first time last season at the Curb Event Center in the Bruins' home opener, with Belmont taking the match in three sets. Laura Shoopman tallied a career-high six aces in the sweep. 

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.              

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