Sophomore Hannah Kelly prepares to receive a serve. Photo courtesy of butlersports.com.

SARAH HOHMAN | SPORTS REPORTER | shohman@butler.edu

The volleyball team hosted the Bulldog Brawl at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Sept. 17 and Sept. 18. The Bulldogs faced tough competition against Milwaukee, Western Michigan and UCLA — who is ranked 19th nationally.

Butler’s first match was against Milwaukee, where the Bulldogs lost in a hard-fought 3 sets. Redshirt senior Melody Davidson led the offense with 9 kills and 4 blocks with sophomore Amina Shackelford also contributing 8 kills and 3 blocks. Junior Jaymeson Kinley added 14 digs and sophomore Madison Friebel dished out 27 assists.

The second match of the day was against ranked UCLA. Butler fought hard in the first two sets but lost 25-14 in the first and 25-19 in the second. The team created a nice 8-3 lead in the third set and eventually closed out the set with a 25-18 win. The Bulldogs lost the match as the Bruins eventually took the third set.

Davidson led the way with kills again with 13 and 4 block assists. Sophomore Hannah Kelly had a season-high 3 service aces to power the Bulldogs behind the line. Fribel added 31 assists and 14 digs to produce a double-double along with a service ace and 2 block assists.

On Sept. 18, Butler faced Western Michigan and fell short in three sets. Davidson added 11 kills, 2 block assists and a dig to her impressive weekend. Grunze contributed 8 kills, 9 digs, 2 aces and a block assist to spark both sides of the ball. Sophomore Marissa McKelvey came off the bench to add a solid 4 assists, 4 digs and an ace.

Butler concluded non-conference play with the Bulldog Brawl, and will square-off against Creighton on Friday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. at Hinkle.