ONU DROPS FIRST TWO MATCHES OF BELLEVUE TOURNAMENT

BELLEVUE, Neb - The Olivet Nazarene University women's volleyball team traveled eastward to take part in their second tournament of the year, the Bellevue University Tournament in Bellevue, Neb. The Tigers dropped their first two matches of the tournament to a 3-1 tally.

First Match: Dickinson State 3, Olivet Nazarene 1

In the opening set, the Tigers were down a point early until rallying off six straight, including back-to-back kills by Halle Nicholas, to take a commanding five-point lead. They wouldn't surrender the lead for the remainder of the opener, winning their first set of the season 25-20.

Dickinson State came out firing in the second set, building a big lead early and not looking back. The third set started in a similar fashion, but the Tigers came roaring back in the middle of the set. ONU rattled off five points in a row, punctuated by a Kaylee Cozen kill, to cut the Blue Hawk lead to one.

The Tigers and the Blue Hawks would go back and forth, reaching a tie at 21-all after a Nicholas kill, but it would be Dickinson State who would pull away to take the third set and the lead in the match.

A pair of Sutton Bate kills put the Tigers up early in the fourth set, but the Blue Hawks would put away eight-of-nine points to take the lead. ONU did their best to keep pace but ultimately dropped the fourth set to take an opening-match loss.

Second Match: Ottawa Univ. (Ariz.) 3, Olivet Nazarene 1

The first two sets of the match required extra points between the Spirit and the Tigers. Ottawa was able to take the back-and-forth opener 26-24 before ONU was able to return the favor with a 26-24 set of their own. Kelsey Todd put away back-to-back kills dished up by Julianne Kielion to re-take the momentum and the lead late in the set.

After a Nicholas kill and a Kielion ace tabbed the first two points of the third, the Spirit scored four straight to claim the lead, a lead that they would hold for the remainder of the set. The Tigers led for the majority of a tightly-contest fourth until the Spirit battled back, outscoring ONU 11-4 to close out the set and the match.

GAME VITALS

Finals: Match One: First Set: ONU 25, DSU 20 | Second Set: DSU 25, ONU 20 | Third Set: DWU 25, ONU 23 | Fourth Set: DSU 25, ONU 20

Match Two: First Set: OUAZ 26, ONU 24 | Second Set: ONU 26, OUAZ 24 | Third Set: OUAZ 25, ONU 15 | Fourth Set: OUAZ 25, ONU 21

Records: Ottawa Univ. (Ariz.) 3-2 | Dakota State 1-6 | Olivet Nazarene 0-6

Location: Gordan Lozier Athletic Center | Bellevue University | Bellevue, Neb.

QUICK HITS

First Match

• Nicholas led the Tigers with 14 kills.
• Bate was the only other Tiger with double-digit kills with 10.
• Kielion and Karsyn Delbridge led the team with 17 assists each.
• Ashley Poland recorded a game-high 17 digs.

Second Match

• Kielion notched a season-high 26 assists.
• Kaitlyn Kolb was the lone Tiger with double-digit kills (11).
• Brianna Cannon tallied a game-high 23 digs.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Tigers will wrap up their play in the Bellevue University Tournament, taking on two more opponents tomorrow in Nebraska. ONU will face off against MidAmerica Nazarene at 9 a.m. in the morning and then Central Methodist later in the day at 3 p.m. Live stats will be available on the ONU Athletics website.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu