Bellevue College volleyball had two easy wins and one tough luck five-set thriller loss as the Bulldogs earned the East Region #2 seed berth to the NWAC Final Eight. Bellevue defeated Lower Columbia 25-19, 25-18, 25-23 on Sat. Nov. 17 as the ‘dogs won with tough back row defense collecting 63 digs. Jocie Snyder had 17 while Jesse Mahler had 10.
In winners’ bracket play on Sun. Nov. 17, Bellevue took on host and top-seeded Columbia Basin. The Bulldogs fell behind 2-0 (21-25, 17-25) before storming back to take sets three (25-23) and four (25-22) before a nail-biting 14-16 loss in set five. The set had a few exciting momentum swings as CBC went up 8-5 before a BC timeout. The Bulldogs responded, going on a 5-1 run to take a 10-9 lead on a kill by Mahler. Maycee Ward would deliver an ace before the Hawks went on a 4-1 run to go up 13-11. The teams would battle to the end before a service error at 14-14 and a Hawk kill would end the heartbreaker for the ‘dogs.
With a 45 minute break, the Bulldogs recovered physically and mentally from the loss to take care of Clackamas 25-20, 25-21, 25-16. Bellevue cleaned it up at the service line with seven aces and only three service errors after opening the tourney with 10 errors from the line in match one. Middle blocker Annie Goetze got it done on both ends with eight kills on only one swing error for a .389 hit percentage and also had four blocks (two solo) and two aces. Ward had 16 digs for the Bulldogs while Lexi Echols’ arm caught fire with 12 kills as did Mahler.
Bellevue opens up next week’s Final Eight Championship as the East Region #2 seed and will face Linn-Benton, the NWAC’s three-time defending champion at 11 a.m. on Fri. Nov. 22. The season finale championship will be held at Pierce College in Lakewood, WA.
Last Updated November 17, 2024
