BELOIT, Wis. - The Beloit College volleyball team took down Dominican (IL) 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16 this evening at Flood Arena. The Buccaneers improved to 6-10 overall.
In the first set, the Buccaneers led from the first point and never trailed. Dominican called timeout down 12-5, and Beloit held off a late run that cut the lead to 18-15 before closing the set. Naomi Murphy (Dubuque, Iowa) had three kills, and she and Lilianne Bethards (Rockford, IL) each had two block assists.
In set 2, Beloit opened with a 7-0 run behind Emily Ortiz (Aurora, IL) serve and led 10-1. Dominican fought back to tie the set at 15-15 and 17-17, and later scored two straight aces to tie it at 23-23. Beloit answered with a Dominican service error, then a Keira Taylor (Eau Claire, WI) ace to end it. Bethards hit .750 in the set with three kills, and Kyra Suiter-Meyers (Orfordville, Wis.) added two.
In the 3rd, Dominican took the match's only lost set after a 4-0 run from 12-9 to 12-13 forced a Beloit timeout. The Buccaneers rallied from there and went back and forth with the Stars through 23-23, but Dominican scored the last two points. Murphy led Beloit with four kills in the set.
The Buccaneers closed the match with their best set, hitting .161 and winning 12 of 16 side-out opportunities (75%). Beloit led 18-10 after a Murphy ace and never let the margin tighten. Suiter-Meyers had three kills on three swings with no errors, and Kierra Rayne Hoover (Albuquerque, New Mexico) and Madalyn Huizel (Faribault, MN) each added two kills.
Murphy led the Buccaneers with 9.0 points, including a team-high seven kills, an ace and two block assists.
Daniela Perez (San Francisco, CA) put down six kills and added a block assist for 6.5 points, and Bethards (4 kills, 3 block assists) contributed 5.5 points.
Suiter-Meyers was Beloit's most efficient hitter, with five kills on 11 swings (.364) and 5.0 points in limited action.
Aaliyah Gerard (Aiea, HI) ran the offense with a team-high 14 assists and a .350 set percentage. She also led the team with 11 digs and served three aces.
Lizzie Paschal (Holbrook, AZ) (six assists) and Ortiz (four assists, two aces, six digs) also helped run the offense.
In the back row, Renee Stout (Nocona, TX) added nine digs, and libero Maddisyn Adams (Stockett, MT) handled 23 serve receptions with just one error (.958).
Beloit's aces came from Gerard (3), Ortiz (2) and Adelaide Schmitt (Aurora, Colo.) (2), along with one each from Murphy, Huizel, Sofia Ekmekjian Bagarazzi (Conshohocken, PA), Madeline Holthaus (Saint Paul, MN), Paschal and Taylor.
The Bucs look to build on the momentum in their conference match up with Cornell College on Friday, October 23rd at 7pm at Flood Arena.
