MUSKOGEE, Okla. -- The John Brown University volleyball team picked up a Sooner Athletic Conference win Thursday 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-22) at Bacone.
The Golden Eagles dropped the first set 25-23, but then rallied to win the next three and improved to 18-11 overall and 9-7 in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
As of presstime, the Golden Eagles were in fifth place in the league behind undefeated Oklahoma City (17-0), Wayland Baptist (13-2), Texas Wesleyan (12-4) and St. Gregory's (10-4). In order to host a SAC Tournament quarterfinal match in Siloam Springs, the Golden Eagles must finish in the top four.
The Golden Eagles play at St. Gregory's on Friday and need to sweep the Cavaliers and also win at Science and Arts on Saturday to keep those hopes alive.
John Brown 3, MACU 0
Two sets featured extra volleyball, but the John Brown University volleyball team found a way to win both and ran away with a three-set sweep (25-21, 30-28, 27-25) against Mid-America Christian to and cap off a dramatic regular-season home finale on Tuesday night inside Bill George Arena.
Despite hitting just .170 (47-17-176) on the evening, the Golden Eagles (17-11, 8-7 SAC) rode a trio of hitters that attacked at a combined .276 percent clip.
Carly McKinney launched her third-consecutive double-double with a team-leading 14 kills and 17 digs, while Molli Pugh had 11 kills and Kennedy Shelstead had 10 kills.
Beth Brankle finished with a team-best 26 digs, marking the sixth-consecutive time exceeding the 20-dig plateau. Williams dished out 21 assists while junior Alyssa Arnold passed 19 to accompany 10 digs, earning her a third-straight double-double.
Sports on 10/30/2016