GRENADIERS END OPENING WEEKEND WITH WIN OVER BETHEL UNIVERSITY

BOWLING GREEN, Ky . – The IU Southeast volleyball team used a stellar offensive attack to cap off its opening weekend with a 3-1 win over Bethel University 21-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-13 on Saturday.

Emilee Organ had a match-high 18 kills, Izzy Stallard had 11, Alexis Franks added nine and Jennie Malone had seven kills and three blocks.

Nine different Grenadiers recorded kills in the match as IU Southeast showed off a balanced offense that hit .336 in the match and at least .400 from the second set through the fourth.

The Grenadiers (2-2) jumped out to a 6-3 lead to open the match but a 10-2 run by Wildcats gave Bethel a 13-8 lead. IU Southeast answered with an 8-3 run to tie the set at 16 but were outscored 6-2 to close the opening frame. Seven different Grenadiers recorded kills in the first set.

In the second set the Grenadiers led 8-3 before the Wildcats battled back to trim the lead to 14-12, but this time IU Southeast pulled away on a 7-2 run. Bethel would not get closer than seven points for the remainder of the set as IU Southeast recorded a .515 attack percentage and committed just two attack errors in the frame.

IU Southeast jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the third set before Bethel cut the lead to 10-8 and hung around trailing 17-14. The Grenadiers closed the set on an 8-3 run to take a 2-1 lead. A kill by Malone followed by two Organ kills and an attack error gave the Grenadiers a 21-14 lead and the momentum in the period.

The fourth set went back-and-fourth until IU Southeast pulled away with a 7-1 run to take a 17-9 lead. Then Cate Murphy helped spark the final run of the night when she served the final six point run and had two aces in the that stretch.

She led the Grenadiers with three aces and had 22 assists. Brandy Eisenback led the Grenadiers with 26 assists and Santina Schembra led the team with 12 digs and Organ added 11.

IU Southeast had just one reception error in the match against seven aces of their own and had 62 total kills to Bethel's 42 in the match.