Volleyball Falls at Home In First-Ever Missouri Valley Conference Match

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Belmont University volleyball team bounced back from being down 2-0 to take a tight third frame, 26-24, but ultimately fell, 3-1, to Missouri State in the first-ever Missouri Valley Conference match in program history on Friday night at the Curb Event Center. 

In four sets, the Bruins fell to the Bears, 17-25, 20-25, 26-24, and 9-25. 

Three Bruins finished with double-digit kills, including Laura Shoopman with 14, Ally Peterson with 13, and Brooke Gilleland with 11.  

Missouri State had four players finish with at least 12 kills, highlighting a balanced attack. 

After Belmont (4-10, 0-1 MVC) played clean volleyball in the third frame and hit .357 on the way to the narrow two-point win, Missouri State (4-9, 1-0 MVC) responded in a resounding way in the fourth frame, out-hitting Belmont .296 to -.214 to pick up the match-securing 25-9 victory in front of an announced crowd of 502. 

Peyton O'Brien collected her fourth double-double of the season with 35 assists and 11 digs, chipping in four kills and three blocks. 

Rachel McBride finished with 18 digs on the night, a match-high. 

In the first set, Missouri State jumped ahead 8-2 and led for the entirety of the frame, with Belmont cutting things to as narrow as 17-14 at one point. Five kills from Peterson in the frame kept the Bruins in the mix, but the Bears ended on an 8-3 run to win, 25-17. 

Belmont hit .188 in the second frame and got four kills each from Peterson, Gilleland, and Shoopman, but again were unable to ward off a late Missouri State surge that saw the Bears win four of the final five points to win, 25-20. 

The Bruins could do no wrong in the third frame, hitting a resounding .333 to jump out to a fast 8-2 start that was highlighted by three kills from Shoopman. Later, a pair of Missouri State attack errors handed Belmont an 18-10 lead.  

However, the Bears refused to go away, erupting on a 5-0 run down the stretch to tie things at 23-23, on the verge of securing a sweep. Belmont responded by getting consecutive kills from Shoopman and Gilleland to force a fourth set with a 26-24 victory in the third game. 

"We played our game [in the third set]," head coach Katelyn Harrison said. "We did what we do, and we didn't let them affect it, and I think that's something that we need to do more often. That's something that we talked about in the hallway—which team do we want to be? The Game 3 team or the Game 1 or 2 team?" 

Missouri State capitalized on nine Belmont attack errors in the fourth frame and recorded 5.5 total blocks to sprint to the 25-9 win, giving the Bears the road victory in their conference opener. 

On the Significance of the Missouri Valley Opener 

"We talked about that in the locker room before the match--that it was a historic night, win or lose. The Missouri Valley is a good conference and it is the first match and making history, so there is some pressure there. It felt good to get it out of the way—obviously wish the outcome had been different. We did some nice things, I just want to continue to grow on those going forward into tomorrow." --head coach Katelyn Harrison 

Up Next 

Belmont will face Southern Illinois on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. inside the Curb Event Center. The first 100 fans in attendance at "50th Anniversary of Title IX" night will receive a free t-shirt. 

Tickets for the match can be purchased here. 

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.  

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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