Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven volleyball team came away with a hard fought victory in their 2011 season opener Friday night defeating Xavier University (LA) three games to two. It was also the first victory for Blazer Head Coach Ashley Stathas who is in her first season at Belhaven.

The Blazers (1-0) stormed out of the gate strong in the first two sets as they handled the Gold Nuggets by scores of 25-19 and 25-17. Leading 17-16 in the first set, Belhaven outscored Xavier 8-3 to take game one. In game two, it was tight early until the Blazers went on a four point run to take a 15-10 lead and held on for the 25-17 set victory.

Xavier battled back and took the next two sets by the scores of 25-18 and 26-24 to even the match at 2-2. The Blazers were a point away from victory in the fourth set following a kill by Samantha O'Malley that gave Belhaven a 24-23 edge. However, the Gold Nuggets kept the match alive by winning the next three points forcing a fifth and final set.

With game five tied at 8-8, Belhaven gained a foothold momentarily with two straight points to go up 10-8. Xavier evened the game again at 12-12 on a kill by Chinedu Echebelem, but the Blazers would not surrender another point the rest of the match. O'Malley came through with two consecutive clutch kills and the match winning point came on an error by Xavier's Moira Kirk sending a victory into the win column.

Taylor Williams led the way on offense for Belhaven picking up 16 kills followed by Christina Atwood with 13 kills, O'Malley had 11 kills, and Natalie Davis finished the night with 10 kills. Erin Bradley picked up 39 assists and on defense Williams shined as well notching 20 digs. Katherine Owen added 17 digs and Serita Ingram had five block assists and one solo block.

Xavier was paced by Taylor Reuther on the offensive side of the net with 16 kills followed by Echebelem with 10 kills. Patrice Hightower came up with 29 assists while Reuther posted 17 digs. Celeste Poe had 16 digs to round out the Xavier stat leaders.

“I'm proud of how hard the girls played tonight and how they kept battling all night despite facing some adversity in the third and fourth sets,” said Stathas. “We were able to regroup to pull out the win. It's always good to get that first victory of the season and now we want to build on the momentum from this win. Our crowd was great tonight and I hope this is the first of many exciting victories for our team this season.”

Belhaven will return to the court on September 1st when they host NCAA Division II Arkansas-Monticello in Rugg Arena beginning at 6:00 PM.