BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The eighth-ranked Bellevue University volleyball team dominated previously undefeated, and second-ranked University of Jamestown on Saturday in North Star Athletic Association play at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center, sweeping UJ 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-19).
The win snapped the Jimmies' 19-match winning streak, as BU improved to 24-3 on the season with its 10th-straight victory. BU moved to 7-1 in the NSAA. Jamestown dropped to 19-1 overall and 8-1 in league play.
Kealy Kiviniemi led the Bruins with 12 kills on .632 hitting while adding four blocks and a pair of digs. Eve Fountain registered 10 kills and eight digs. Aspen Meyer finished with nine kills and two blocks.
Haley Fleischman hit .455 with six kills on 11 swings to go along with five blocks.
Mila Aiwohi (28) and Victoria Runyan (15) combined for 43 assists while directing the BU offense to an efficient .357 hitting clip. Aiwohi also added three service aces in the victory.
Taylan Keefer led all players with a match-high 14 digs as the BU defense limited UJ to a .136 attacking percentage.
Aleah Zieske paced the Jimmies with 10 kills, two digs, and a block.
The Bruins dominated in the opening set, attacking at a .556 clip with 16 kills and just one error in 27 attempts, led by Meyer's five kills on eight errorless swings. The Bruins opened the match on a 9-2 scoring run capped by a block from Meyer and Savanna Berger on Charlee Krieg. BU scored the final four points of the frame, sealed by a kill from Kiviniemi and a block by Kiviniemi and Fleischman on Gracie Adamson as Bellevue cruised to the 25-15 victory.
With the score tied at 11 in the second set, BU used a nine-point scoring capped by back-to-back service aces from Mila Aiwohi to take a commanding 20-11 lead. UJ never got closer than seven points in the remainder of the set as BU took a 2-0 advantage in the match with the 25-17 win.
Similar to the opening two sets, the Bruins raced out to an early lead of 7-3 following a service ace by Raeanne Kimoto. BU expanded the margin to seven points at 15-8 following a block by Kiviniemi and Berger on Adamson. The Jimmies got as close as three points on two occasions, only to see the UJ momentum stopped by kills from Fountain each time. A kill by Kiviniemi ended the match as the Bruins earned the sweep with the 25-19 victory.
Bellevue will travel to Valley City, N.D., next Friday, Nov. 1, for a 7 p.m. match at Valley City State University.
