Volleyball Ready for Kansas Invitational
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Belmont (2-2) will go on the road this weekend to take part in the Kansas Invitational in Lawrence, Kan. The Bruins will face host Kansas, South Dakota State, and Appalachian State. Belmont opens play at 12 p.m. on Friday against the Jayhawks.
The tournament will be the first of two consecutive weekends in the Midwest for the Bruins. The match against Kansas will be the first meeting between the two school's and only the third for Belmont and a member of the Big 12 conference. The Bruins will also face South Dakota State for the first time and will meet Appalachian State for just the third time. After opening against the Jayhawks on Friday, Belmont will meet the Jackrabbits in a 5 p.m. game. The Bruins will close out play in the Invitational with an early morning meeting against the Mountaineers at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Belmont enters the tournament fresh off a straight set win in a mid-week match up on the road at Chattanooga. The Bruins posted a 1-2 record in the Belmont Invitational last weekend, beating Murray State in the opener before falling to regional power Western Kentucky and Sacramento State last Saturday. Kansas comes off a sweep of the Georgia Invitational during the opening weekend as the Jayhawks moved through the field without dropping a single set. Both South Dakota State enter the weekend with 3-1 records and fresh off wins over Atlantic Sun opponents. South Dakota State defeated Jacksonville while Appalachian State posted a win over Kennesaw State last weekend.
The Bruins are led by conference Preseason Player of the Year Maggie Johnson, who leads both the team and the conference with 4.55 kills/set. A unanimous selection to the All-Freshmen team a season ago, sophomore setter Hannah Miranda currently leads the conference with 10.86 assists/set. Other players to watch for Belmont this weekend are sophomore outside hitter Jen Myer, who leads the A-Sun with 1.00 service aces/set and has recorded 14 aces so far this season, and sophomore libero Jamie Lundstrom, who posted a new Curb Event Center Record of 40 digs against Sacramento State last Saturday.
Belmont will return to Nashville for a Tuesday night match against Tennessee Tech on Sept. 6th before heading back to the Midwest for the Kangaroo Klassic hosted by UMKC Sept. 9-10. Live stats, full match recaps, match notes, and updated statistics will be available at www.belmontbruins.com. Links to audio for the Kansas match will also be available online.
