Volleyball Splits Weekend on the Road

 
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Belmont University Volleyball Program (10-11, 4-3 MVC) took on Missouri State (9-10, 3-4 MVC) and Southern Illinois (12-6, 4-3 MVC) this weekend. The Bruins fell to Missouri State in five Friday but bounced back to top Southern Illinois in a five-set thriller on Saturday. 
 
Against the Bears

Belmont came out strong in set one. The Bruins went on a 4-0 run capped off with a block from Kristen Clemons to take an early 7-4 lead. Missouri State later went on a run of their own to claim the lead at 15-19. Belmont continued to battle and took back the lead at 22-21 off a block from Clemons and Kamryn Olson. The Bruins went on to take the first set 25-23.
 
Set two was back-and-forth until Maddy Bushnell and the Bears put together a late run to take a commanding 13-19 lead. Belmont was unable to overcome the deficit and eventually dropped the second 19-25.
 
The Bruins trailed throughout set three until late. Sydney Willis came in hot with two kills and a block to spark a 6-0 run for Belmont to take the lead at 22-20. After their late run, the Bruins continued to fight and claimed a close third set 25-23.
 
The Bruins and Bears were in another battle to start set four. Missouri State later rattled off three straight aces to stretch their lead to 17-11. The Bears continued to stay in control and cruised to a 18-25 set four win.
 
Missouri State got off to a strong start in set five. The Bears quickly jumped to a 4-9 lead. Belmont continued to battle, and Brooke Gilleland came up with two big swings to keep the Bruins alive at 12-14. Despite the late effort, the Bruins fell in the fifth 12-15.
 
Against the Salukis

The Bruins started off strong in set one. With a kill and an ace, Clemons helped push Belmont to a 13-11 lead midway through the first. Southern Illinois would then go on a 4-0 run to reclaim the lead at 15-17. After taking back the lead, the Salukis went on to take set one 25-22.
 
Belmont came out swinging in set two. The Bruins continued to push the tempo while Gilleland had the hot hand with four early kills. With a block from Gilleland and Willis, Belmont took a commanding 18-12 lead and never let up. The Bruins took set two 25-16.
 
The Bruins continued with the momentum from set two to begin the third. Gilleland rattled off another four kills to give Belmont an edge at 11-8 midway through set three. Both teams continued to trade big swings and aggressive serves until SIU made a late run to claim set three 21-25.
 
Set four was all Belmont to start. With back-to-back kills from Clemons, the Bruins went up 14-8 and continued to fight the rest of the set. Ally Peterson came up big with a kill and ace to help Belmont finish the set on top 25-23. 
 
The fifth set was a nail biter where Belmont trailed most of the way. The Bruins quickly found themselves down 8-10 until Gilleland returned with a kill to get things going offensively. The swing from Gilleland sparked a 4-0 run for the Bruins to take a 12-10 lead. The rest of the set was an all-out battle where Belmont came out on top 18-16.
 
What's Bruin

• Brook Gilleland recorded a career high 19 kills on a .471 hitting percentage against Southern Illinois.
• Rachel McBride tallied 40 digs this weekend.
• Sydney Willis led Belmont with 16 blocks.
• Kamryn Olson ran the Bruin offense with 105 assists on the weekend.

 
Up Next
 
The Bruins will hit the road again to face Illinois State on Friday at 6 p.m. CT and Bradley on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats can be found on belmontbruins.com.
 
Both single match and season tickets are on sale. Season tickets are $50 per seat and include all volleyball home games. Click here to purchase your single match or season tickets. 
 
Follow Belmont volleyball on social media - @BelmontVB  on Twitter, @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.