BELLEVUE, NEB – In early September, Mayville State handed the Bellevue Bruins a five-set loss at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse in Mayville. That night, the Comets persevered through many different obstacles, and, in the end, came out on top. That was Mayville State's lone win against the Bruins, heading into Friday's conference play.
Friday night, the Bruins were looking to avenge that loss in a home match against the Comets. Bellevue was able to get off the ground running, defeating the Comets 3-0 in North Star Athletic Association play, handing the Comets their fourth loss against the Bruins in nine seasons.
"I just don't think we showed up the way we wanted to tonight," head coach Lindsey Johnson said. "I thought we lacked some intensity and emotion."
Bellevue dominated set one from start to finish.
They jumped out to a 14-3 lead, led by multiple kills by Rosa Reed-Bouley and Paige Holdsworth.
The Comets scored their first three points on an attack error, kill by Victoria Johnson and an Amy Seim service ace, respectively.
Kiana Johnson stopped the Bellevue run at 14-3 with a kill on a set pass from Elora Passa.
The match then exchanged points, until late.
With Mayville State trailing by nine points, 16-7, the Bruins again went on a run. This time, an 8-0 run, putting them to set point. The Bruins couldn't finish off the Comets in the rally, as Holdsworth committed an attack error, bringing it to a 16-point lead for Bellevue. But, Coree Lipovsky ended the set on a pass from Olivia Galas.
Set two saw both teams jockey for positioning, with the Comets coming out and taking an early 2-1 lead on a kill by Kaitlin Leier.
Bellevue would then battle back, but the match would never take a larger lead than three for either team.
The Comets took an 8-7 lead on kills by Kiana Johnson and Hannah Bliss, with an attack error by Bellevue in between.
Mayville State would later take a 12-9 lead on a pair of attack errors and a kill by Victoria Johnson.
The Comets held the lead until the midway point of set two, when Bellevue went on a 4-0 run, stopped by Sydney Craig's service ace.
Mayville State then tied it two rallies later, on Jordyn Lucas' service ace, but Bellevue took the lead on the next serve, when Kiana Johnson committed an error.
The Comets would regain the lead 18-17 on a kill by Kiana Johnson and a ball handling error by Galas.
The Bruins and Comets would continue to exchange leads, with the Bruins taking the lead for good on a kill by Sierra Athen, making it 24-23 in favor of the Bruins.
Set three was back-and-forth early, but Bellevue took control on a 7-0 run. Lipovsky had two kills and the Comets committed four attack errors in that span.
Late in the match, Mayville State closed the gap to within 10 points on back-to-back-to-back attack errors by Bellevue. But, in the end, the Bruins picked up the match-ending point on an attack error by Bliss.
Mayville State was led by Kiana Johnson, who finished with eight kills; Bliss, with seven kills and five digs; and Passa, who had 22 assists.
Mayville State (16-11, 5-5 NSAA) will travel to Madison, S.D., tomorrow, where they'll take on the Dakota State Trojans at 2 p.m.