Volleyball Travels to Bellevue for Labor Day Invitational

BELLEVUE, Neb. – Avila volleyball traveled west to Nebraska to face four strong opponents over three days at Bellevue University's 2023 GoSarpy.com Labor Day Classic. There, the Eagles (2-4) outslugged Dickinson State and dropped a close five-set contest against Benedictine to finish their weekend trip with a 1-3 mark.

It's become a bit of an annual tradition for Avila volleyball to compete at Bellevue, head coach Marylyn Mozena's alma mater. The Eagles faced off against the Bruins, a perennial NAIA power, in 2021, and have now competed in Bellevue's Labor Day invitational in each of the last two seasons, winning one match both years.

This year, the Eagles faced four squads from across the greater Midwest over three days in two different gyms in and around Bellevue's campus. Their first matchup came on Thursday evening against their toughest opponent on paper of the week, Our Lady of the Lake, which had just begun receiving votes in the NAIA poll unveiled earlier this week.

The Eagles kept things close with the Saints (3-5), a common theme for Avila throughout the tournament, scoring 20 or more points in two of the three sets, but Avila's offense hit below .100 as a team and the Saints were able to earn the sweep despite Avila winning the blocking battle 8-2. Three Saints recorded double-digit kills, led by Camila Ramirez's 13; Madalyn Gonzalez had 10 on .474 hitting; setter Lauren Reynard tallied an impressive 40 assists in just three sets. Maddie Jones paced the Eagle offense with seven kills along with nine digs and two solo blocks; Daphne Gardner recorded a double-double with 19 assists and 13 digs.

Avila had a little time off before swapping gyms to play two matches on Friday afternoon. First up was Benedictine (4-0) from nearby Atchison, Kansas. The Ravens won set one and then hit an insane .538 as a team in set two to move to within one win of a sweep. But the Eagles fired back, committing only two attack errors in the third set in a season-best .371 team showing, and then forcing the Ravens into 10 attacking errors (.053 hit percentage) in the fourth.

Avila won both sets three and four by identical 25-22 scorelines to force a fifth frame, where the Ravens were able to escape with a 15-12 victory to stay undefeated in the young season. Benedictine was credited with just one block, amazingly, in the five-set match, while Avila tallied 11. Hokulani Sagapolu led Benedictine with 16 kills as well as 24 digs. Maddie Jones led the Eagles with a career-high 19 kills and Siobhan Dittmer added 12; Abigail Blake paced the defense with 19 digs; Diamond Sedlak chipped in four service aces.

A few hours later, Avila returned to the floor to face Dickinson State (0-6) out of North Dakota. The Eagles fell to the Blue Hawks at this very event last season, but this year the Avila offense was fully in sync, producing a season-best .316 team hitting percentage, and the Eagles outgunned Dickinson State to earn a sweep, their second victory of the young season.

Haydin Henschel led DSU with 11 kills, with Madi Wahl right behind with 10 kills on .444 hitting. Jones paced the Eagles with 12 kills on .280 hitting along with two aces and eight digs; Sedlak added nine kills and Dittmer had eight; Daphne Gardner was brilliant, tallying 40 assists in just three sets along with 14 digs for her second double-double of the week to go with six kills against zero errors and two aces.

Finally, the Eagles closed out their busy week by facing Valley City State bright and early on Saturday morning. The Vikings had just knocked off nationally-ranked Ottawa, Avila's rivals from the KCAC, earlier in the event, and VCSU looked similarly strong on Saturday, out-hitting Avila .263 to .091 and sending the Eagles to their second three-set loss of the tournament.

Bailey Nelson dominated for the Vikings, knocking in 16 kills on .343 hitting, helped by an impressing 42 assists in three sets from Sadie Hansen. Jaycee Richter was credited with 25 digs. Jones was once again the focal point of the Eagle offense, recording her first double-double of the week with 12 kills and 14 digs; Phoebe Riddle added seven kills; Blake led the Eagles with 16 digs and Kyleighn Block added in ten.

The Eagles will have a little time off before another eventful few days to close out next week. Avila will first make the short trip east to Columbia to face Stephens College on Thursday, September 7 at 6 PM before the Eagles head up to Iowa to face both Jamestown and Morningside in a tri on Saturday, September 9. For details on how to watch and follow along, stay tuned to the all-new avilaathletics.com and follow Avila Athletics on social media.