Thursday, November 19, 2009

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The defending champion Belmont Bruins dispatched Kennesaw State in the opening contest of the Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championships, winning 25-17, 25-15 and 25-17 at FGCU’s Alico Arena on Thursday.

The Belmont win sets up a "Battle of the Boulevard" matchup at the A-Sun Championships for the fourth consecutive year. The winner of the three previous matches has gone on to win the A-Sun title. The Bruins own two of those victories, winning the semifinals in 2006 and in the title game last year. Lipscomb won a semifinal contest in 2007 en route to its lone A-Sun title.

Belmont (18-14) started strong in all three sets winning the first three points of the contest, two coming courtesy of services aces from Kayla Albritton. The match turned tight, with neither team gaining more than a single-point advantage until Belmont took an 11-9, setting up a 10-3 run by the Bruins that pushed the lead to 19-12. The led would never dip below five again in the set. Belmont hit .405 in the set and made only two errors.

The Bruins strong close of set one carried into the second set putting Kennesaw State (17-12) behind the eight ball early as they scored 11 of the first 13 points. On three occasions, the Owls cut the deficit to six, but never got closer and the Bruins took the second set, 25-15. Like the first, the Bruins committed only two errors, hitting at a .296 clip. Conversely the Owls mustered only a .034 percentage, due to eight errors against nine kills in the set.

Set three looked as those it would follow the same script of the previous set as again the Bruins raced out to an early advantage, this time by an 11-4 count. Despite the margin, the Owls showed fight in widdling the margin to as little at two at 16-14 after an ace from Holly Knight and a kill from Chelsey Denesha. However, the Bruins’ tournament experience carried the day, closing on a 9-3 run to eliminate the Owls.

Belmont, as a team, hit .330 for the match, as compared to Kennesaw State’s .098 mark. Second-Team All-Atlantic Sun setter Channing Salava recorded 31 assists. Jenny Gray and Megan Clements each registered 11 digs while Albritton filled out her box score with nine kills, six aces, five digs and block assists.

Kennesaw State’s Holly Knight collected eight kills without an error in hitting .571. Second Team All-Atlantic Sun outside hitter Sabrita Gulley struggled in her first A-Sun Championship contest, hitting only .036.

Fans can follow the Atlantic Sun on Twitter and on Facebook. Visit twitter.com/AtlanticSun to begin receiving updates on conference news, weekly awards, and from A-Sun championships. Atlantic Sun followers with a Facebook account can become a "fan" of the conference by searching for the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is an NCAA Division I member committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.