Freshman Carly McKinney posted a match-high 20 kills but the John Brown University volleyball team couldn't finish off a five-set comeback (15-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-21, 8-15), falling to Texas Wesleyan (16-2, 3-2 SAC) on Friday night inside Bill George Arena.
Texas Wesleyan used 10 aces and took advantage of 12 Golden Eagles service errors.
"Tonight's match was a hard fought on by both teams," JBU head coach Ken Carver said. "Our team fought hard and battled against a team we have historically have played a lot of close matches with the past three seasons. The tale of the tape really boiled down to our serve and pass game. We made far too many errors from the service line and gave up far too many aces in serve-receive as well. Between both of those areas we gave up 22 points to Texas Wesleyan.
"Part of our pregame scouting report was talking about the impact unforced errors would have on the outcome of the match against two evenly-matched teams. Texas Wesleyan served us aggressively and, as a result, we weren't able to run as balanced an offensive attack as we would have liked. That being said, Carly getting 20 kills on the match and hitting .296 as well as Bailei getting 11 kills and only having 1 attacking error for an attack efficiency of .370 really paced our team offensively."
The opening set featured an early Wesleyan lead until the Golden Eagles (12-6, 3-2 SAC) knotted the score at 11 all. A quick 9-0 TWU run placed the first set out of reach for the hosts.
Junior Bailei Brown's kill offered John Brown a 14-9 lead in the second. JBU continued to build the momentum, building a 20-12 advantage, eventually running away and tying the match at one apiece.
An 11-7 Ram lead in the third quickly evaporated when sophomore Brittany Ayers' kill tied the set at 16. Attacking errors limited the Golden Eagle rally, allowing the visitors to take a 2-1 advantage.
The fourth set was highlighted by a 9-2 start for JBU. The Rams eventually would cut the lead to two, 17-15, but the two-point lead would mostly hold until another Brown termination and a block from freshman Jessica Meyers and senior Molli Pugh helped the hosts finish the set on a 4-1 run, setting up a fifth and final set.
The Rams hit a match-best .304 percent in the last stanza, turning a 5-5 draw into an 11-6 advantage. John Brown couldn't recover closer than three points, 11-8, as TWU closed the match on a 4-0 run.
Shelby Stinnett led the Rams with 17 kills and 16 digs while Alanna Hayhurst posted 10 kills and 16 digs in the win. Sasha Robinson led all players with 37 assists to figure along with 15 digs. Chalon Anderson led all players with 44 digs.
McKinney paced JBU with a double-double, adding 11 digs to match-best 20 kills. Pugh added 12 terminations and 21 digs, also nabbing a double-double, while Brown barely missed out on a third, finishing with nine kills and 11 digs. Junior Beth Brankle's 33 digs led all Golden Eagles.
JBU returned to action on Saturday against Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas). Results were not available at presstime.
John Brown 3, Crowley's Ridge 0
Senior Molli Pugh posted a match-high 14 terminations and the John Brown University volleyball team held Crowley's Ridge (Ark.) to a mere .017 attack percentage, leading the Golden Eagles to its fourth-consecutive sweep (25-16, 25-2, 26-24) inside Bill George Arena on Tuesday night.
Pugh hit a .333 attack rate to lead John Brown while freshman Megan Beck added seven kills. Freshman Jessica Meyer continued her individual block party, posting two solo rejections and four block-assists.
Crowley's Ridge (6-6) received 12 kills from Emily Poyner and 21 digs from Brittany Brown in the loss.
McKinney added six kills, zero attack errors and 11 digs. Sophomore Brittany Ayers also contributed four kills without committing a miscue. Between Pugh, McKinney, Beck and Ayers, the Golden Eagles received 31 of its 24 kills on only three attack errors on a .357 percent attacking clip.
Freshman Elizabeth Williams dished out a game-high 19 assists while junior Beth Brankle anchored the back line with 19 digs, while chipping in three service aces.
Sports on 09/25/2016