BELLEVUE, Neb. — Junior rightside hitter Kealy Kiviniemi pounded a career-high 22 kills on a sizzling .568 hitting percentage as the seventh-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team downed visiting Valley City State University, 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-18, 25-15) Thursday night in North Star Athletic Association action at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
With the win, the Bruins improved to 17-3 on the season and 3-1 in the NSAA. VCSU dropped to 10-7 overall and 2-3 in league play.
Kiviniemi added four blocks and three digs in the victory.
Eve Fountain recorded her team-leading 10th double-double of the season, finishing with 17 kills and 18 digs. Savanna Berger registered a career-high 10 kills on .692 hitting while adding a match-high six blocks.
Mila Aiwohi (35) and Victoria Runyan (24) combined for 59 assists while directing the BU offense to a .317 hitting percentage.
Taylan Keefer, who became the fifth player in school history to record 2,000 digs in a career in BU’s victory over Hastings College on Tuesday, anchored the Bruin defense with a match-high 23 digs as Bellevue held the Vikings to a .168 attacking clip.
Morgan Nelson paced VCSU with 10 kills and three blocks. Macy Fridgen added nine kills. Senior setter Sadie Hansen nearly recorded a triple-double with 34 assists, 11 digs, and eight kills.
The Bruins broke open a tight first set with a 5-0 run sparked by three kills from Kiviniemi to take a 16-11 lead. After the Vikings sliced the lead to three following a kill by Morgan Nelson, BU got three kills from Fountain in a 5-1 run to close the set as the Bruins earned the 25-18 victory. Bellevue hit .382 in the opener, paced by Fountain’s six kills on eight swings. Berger pounded four kills on five attempts.
VCSU went on an 8-3 spurt to take a 10-5 lead in the second, aided by a pair of BU attacking errors and kills by Freije and Fridgen. The Vikings expanded the margin to six points highlighted by a service ace from Ellie Rush and a kill by Freije, making it 19-13. Bellevue answered with a 6-1 run to tie the set at 22-all following four kills and a block by Kiviniemi. A Bruin service error and a pair of kills by Fridgen gave the Vikings the second frame, 25-23.
Bellevue used a 7-1 surge to take a 14-10 lead in the third stanza, capped by a kill from Kiviniemi. The Bruins pushed the margin to seven points at 21-14 following back-to-back kills from Fountain. A kill by Kenzie Polk sealed the 25-18 third-set victory.
Kills by Polk and Fountain and a block by Fountain and Berger gave BU a 16-11 lead in the fourth, forcing a Viking timeout. Back-to-back kills by Kiviniemi cemented the 10-point victory for BU in the fourth.
The Bruins will host Mayville State University on Friday (Oct. 4) at 6 p.m. in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
