Blue Mountain College

Bowling Green, Ky.- Blue Mountain Christian University Volleyball opened play at the Vette City Classic on Friday, splitting a pair of matches as the Volley Toppers swept Kentucky Christian before battling Campbellsville (Ky.) through five sets.
BMCU opened the tournament in dominant fashion with a 3-0 victory over Kentucky Christian, winning 25-12, 25-16 and 25-10. The Volley Toppers then went the distance with Campbellsville in the nightcap before falling 3-2 (28-26, 15-25, 13-25, 34-32, 12-15).
 
BMCU 3, Kentucky Christian 0
 
The Volley Toppers controlled their opening match from start to finish, putting together one of their most efficient offensive performances of the young season.
BMCU hit .372 for the match with 40 kills and just eight attacking errors on 86 attempts. 
The Volley Toppers also created problems from the service line, finishing with 13 aces while holding the Knights to three.
After taking the opening set 25-12, BMCU's offense found another gear in the second. 
The Volley Toppers recorded 14 kills with only two errors on 23 attempts for a .522 hitting percentage on their way to a 25-16 victory.
Blue Mountain Christian closed the sweep with another efficient performance, hitting .344 in the third while limiting Kentucky Christian to a -.030 percentage in a 25-10 set victory.
Salice Speed led the BMCU attack with 11 kills on a .409 hitting percentage. 
Mattie Hopper was nearly flawless offensively, putting down eight kills without an error on 13 attempts to hit .615.
Valeria Velez added seven kills and made a major impact from the service line with eight aces.
Olivia Domino directed the offense with 21 assists while adding four aces and six digs. 
Abbi Williams anchored the back row with a match-high 19 digs.
The Volley Toppers held Kentucky Christian to just 17 kills and a .034 hitting percentage while finishing with advantages in kills (40-17), assists (35-13) and digs (48-33).
 
Campbellsville 3, BMCU 2
 
BMCU's second match of the day turned into a five-set battle with Campbellsville.
The tone was established immediately with neither side willing to give ground in an extended opening set. 
The Volley Toppers eventually prevailed 28-26 to grab an early 1-0 advantage.
Campbellsville responded by taking the next two sets, 25-15 and 25-13, putting BMCU in a 2-1 hole.
The fourth set developed into a marathon as both teams repeatedly fought off opportunities to close it out. 
BMCU recorded 22 kills in the frame and eventually outlasted the Tigers 34-32 to force a deciding fifth set.
The Volley Toppers and Tigers remained close in the final frame, but Campbellsville was able to create enough separation late to take the set 15-12 and escape with the five-set victory.
Speed once again led BMCU offensively, recording 18 kills while adding 12 digs. Marissa Gerleman delivered one of the strongest offensive performances of the match, finishing with 14 kills and only three errors on 25 attempts for a .440 hitting percentage. Gerleman also contributed six total blocks.
Williams turned in another big defensive performance with a match-high 29 digs while also recording eight assists.
Brenyn Wilbanks and Domino split the setting duties with 19 assists apiece. 
Wilbanks also added seven digs, while Velez finished with 11 digs.
The Volley Toppers totaled 51 kills, 48 assists, 89 digs and nine blocks in the five-set contest.
BMCU will return to action Saturday for Day Two of the Vette City Classic with two more matches in Bowling Green.
The Volley Toppers will begin the day against Tennessee Wesleyan at 9 a.m. before closing out the tournament against the University of Pikeville at 2 p.m.
 
 
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