Friday, November 21, 2008

MACON, Ga. - Belmont and Jacksonville battled in the second match of the championship with the Bruins riding a near flawless effort in set five for a 3-2 (16-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-25, 15-4) victory to advance to the championship match at the 2008 Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship.

The final set brought a close to the season for the Jacksonville Dolphins despite a double-double performance (19 kills, 11 digs) from First-Team All-Conference senior Sara Bendorf. Belmont improved to 5-0 in five-set matches while Jacksonville falls to 0-4.

Two-time First-Team All-Conference selection Cat Mundy led the Bruins with 18 kills and three aces. Freshman of the Year Channing Salava added 42 assists to direct Belmont’s attack.

"I think we came out a little nervous in our first set of the tournament, but we picked it up from that time forward," said Belmont Head Coach Deane Webb. "We were able to turn game five and I can’t say enough about how proud I am [of our team]."

Jacksonville came out strong after yesterday's win against Campbell as the first set was a land slide for the Dolphins. JU pushed in front of the Bruins 11-5 early in the match with four kills and two aces coming from Bendorf. Jacksonville topped Belmont in attack percentage .281 to -.033.

Belmont proved they were still in it to win and jumped to a 12-7 lead off of seven kills and an ace by Salava. She also added 11 assists and two kills. Jacksonville rallied late in the match to meet the Bruins at 18 all, but it was not enough as they would pull through with a final kill from Second-Team All-Conference selection Jenny Gray. Jacksonville's outside hitter Aidan Yeager led the Dolphin attack with four kills.

It took a little for the Bruins to get started in the third set, as they fell 15-10 after Jacksonville set down seven kills. The Dolphin lead was not enough to keep Belmont down as they cam back to tie it up at 19. From there the Bruin defense would push the Dolphins to make three errors to take the match to 23-20, and a final kill by Belmont sophomore Megan Clements secured the set.

Jacksonville was not backing down as Bendorf and Yeager boasted six kills a piece and teammate Hannah Munneke put up 12 assists in the fourth frame. The Dolphins biggest lead was at 20-13 and Belmont would only score two more points. Defensive Player of the Year Shelley Walroth added seven digs to lead the back court.

In the regular season the Dolphins and Bruins split their games each winning a match at home. In the match up at Jacksonville, the Bruins lost in four sets (25-27, 14-25, 25-18, 18-25). Bendorf paced the Dolphins with 19 kills and Yeager added nine. In Nashville, Belmont swept the Dolphins with outside hitters Maggie Johnson with 13 kills and Kayla Albritton led the team on a .407 hitting percentage.