ASHLAND, Ore. — The 14th-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team closed its trip to Oregon with a decisive 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-22) sweep over Simpson (Calif.) University Saturday afternoon in the final match of the Raider Invitational being played at the Lithia Motors Pavillion on the Southern Oregon University campus.
The Bruins improved to 2-1 on the season with the victory. Simpson fell to 0-3 overall.
Eve Fountain led the Bruins with eight kills, a team-high 13 digs, two service aces, and three blocks. Kealy Kiviniemi added seven kills and a pair of blocks. Junior Kenzie Polk and redshirt freshman Rowyn Scheer both posted career highs, with six kills each. Scheer hit 1.000 with no errors on six swings. Morgan Wale tallied four kills on five swings and added three blocks. Haley Fleischman registered four kills on 10 errorless swings. Jada Nunn dished out a match-high 14 assists while adding three digs.
The Bruins hit for a season-high .349 attacking clip while limiting the Redhawks to .065 hitting.
Mariah Napoleon paced the Redhawks with seven kills and a block.
Three Simpson attack errors and three BU kills helped the Bruins build an early 7-3 lead in the first frame. BU extended the margin to 18-8 following kills by Fountain, Polk, and Sidney Sledge, and a service ace by Mila Aiwohi. Bellevue closed the set on a 7-3 run to cruise to the 25-11 victory.
Polk and Fountain led BU in the opener with four kills apiece. The Redhawks committed nine hitting errors in the opening frame and hit .000, while the Bruins hit at a .353 clip.
Three kills by Kiviniemi and a pair of putaways by Wale sparked a 10-3 spurt to open the second stanza. After a pair of kills by Fleischman made it 15-6, SU battled back with four straight points to pull to within five at 15-10 following a kill by Napoleon. The Bruins responded with a 10-5 run to close out the set, winning 25-15.
After four BU errors, Simpson raced out to a 5-1 lead in the third set. Sparked by three kills from Scheer, the Bruins countered with an 8-3 run to take a 9-8 lead. The two teams traded points until a 4-0 SU run gave the Redhawks a 17-14 advantage.
Trailing 20-17, the Bruins used a kill by Scheer and two service aces by Lia Aiwohi to fuel a 5-0 run en route to the 25-22 victory, sweeping the match. Eighteen Bruins saw action in the victory.
Bellevue will host the 18-team GoSarpy.com Classic at the Lied Activity Center in Bellevue next Friday-Saturday, August 23-24.
