Volleyball Heads to Kansas City for Kangaroo Klassic
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Belmont (3-5) heads back to the Midwest for the Kangaroo Klassic hosted by University of Missouri-Kansas City, on Friday and Saturday in Kansas City, Mo. The Bruins will face Montana State at 6 p.m. Friday for the start of the tournament before meeting UMKC and UT-Martin on Saturday.
The Bruins enter the tournament fresh off a timely win at home against Tennesse Tech on Tuesday. Belmont seemed to click offensively, hitting a season high .367. The Bruins remained dominate from the serving line, recording 11 aces as a team, including six from sophomore Jen Myer. The offensive performance coupled with balance defensively helped Belmont to a three set sweep of TTU.
The trip to Kansas City will be a return trip of sorts for the Bruins who flew into Kansas City last weekend on their way to the Kansas Invitational in Lawrence, Kan. While the location is similar, the tournament field has a different look to it this weekend. Last weekend Belmont was the smallest team in the tournament in terms of physical size and strength. This weekend, the Bruins face more evenly matched teams. However, the team knows it will have to play well to win against the field. UT-Martin boasts a win over Mississippi State out of the SEC and another win over Southern Illinois out of the Missouri Valley Conference while UMKC won the Radford Tournament last weekend. While Montana State is still searching for its first win of 2011, the Bobcats have challenged teams this season, including taking Jacksonville, a conference opponent for Belmont, to five sets last weekend.
The Bruins open play in the Kangaroo Klassic at 6 p.m. on Friday against Montana State. Saturday's action begins at 1 p.m., when Belmont faces host UMKC. The Bruins will then turn right around and play UT-Martin at 4 p.m. for their final game of the tournament. All games will be played on the UMKC campus at the Swinney Recreation Center in downtown Kansas City. Live stats, full game recaps, previews, schedule information, box scores, match notes and season statistics are all available at www.belmontbruins.com. Live streaming will be available for the Belmont vs. UMKC match via a subscription service. Links to live stas and video will be posted on the schedule page at www.belmontbruins.com.
