SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS– The University of Jamestown women’s volleyball team concluded their weekend with a pair of matches Saturday August 19, at the Alamo City Volleyesta, hosted by Our Lady of the Lake University. 

The top-ranked Jimmies were swept by No. 17 Bellevue (Neb.) in Saturday’s first match, then lost in four sets to Loyola (La.) in the second match.

#17 Bellevue 3, #1 Jamestown 0

Three two-point wins ended up being the difference for the 17th-ranked Bruins.

UJ led 19-16 in set one before Bellevue rallied to take a 21-20 advantage, forcing a Jimmie timeout. A Jamestown attack error put the Bruins ahead by two, but back-to-back points drew UJ level. Aleah Zieske‘s kill made it 25-24 Jimmies and the Bruins called time. Out of the break, Bellevue won three straight points to take the set.

In the second set, Jamestown led 1-0 but played from behind for the rest of the match. The Bruins led by as many as five at 11-6 and 12-7, but the Jimmies continued to stay close. A kill from Charlotte Lempka cut the deficit to 20-19, to which the Bruins responded with two in a row. UJ was unable to rally for the tying and go-ahead points, and Bellevue hung on for a 25-23 win.

The Jimmies had three seven-point leads in the third, including 21-14 after an ace by Lily Bertsch. Bellevue went on a 7-1 run to get within a point, then tied the match on the first point after a UJ timeout. Jamestown’s last lead came at 23-22 on a Logan Sherman kill, and then Bellevue finished off the sweep with three straight points.

Darienne Johnson had 13 kills and hit .391 for Jamestown. Zieske finished with 11 kills and hit .308, and Lexi Olson had nine kills and hit .500. Bertsch passed out 19 assists, Tenley Buddenhagen 16, and Paige Oswald 12. Ellie Holen had 20 digs and Zieske recorded three total blocks.

Loyola 3, #1 Jamestown 1

UJ hit only .125 as a team in a four-set loss to Loyola (La.) Logan Sherman led the Jimmies with 11 kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Aleah Zieske finished with eight kills while Grace Hegerle and Lexi Olson both had six.

Tenley Buddenhagen passed out 24 assists and had 10 digs. Ellie Holen had 25 digs and Darienne Johnson had four solo blocks.

After falling behind 2-0, Jamestown took set three 25-17 despite hitting .065 in the frame. Leading 13-12, the Jimmies took seven of the next eight points to build a seven-point cushion. 

Loyola rallied from a 9-3 deficit in the fourth, outscoring UJ 22-10 the rest of the way to complete the victory. 

The Jimmies will stay in San Antonio to take part in next weekend’s Our Lady of the Lake Tournament Friday and Saturday.