SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The John Brown University volleyball team's perfect season came to a close with a 3-2 setback against Peru State (Neb.) on Friday, but the Golden Eagles (8-1) rebounded in the second match of the day in dominating fashion, sweeping past the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, at The Courts in the Evangel (Mo.) Tournament.
Sophomore Carly McKinney posted her second double-double of the season with 15 kills and 14 digs against Pharmacy while junior Bayli Reagan added a team-best 11 kills against Peru State. Senior Alyssa Arnold racked up 78 assists across the two matches while senior Beth Brankle led the back-line effort with 31 digs on the afternoon.
"Today's results mirrored our play," said head coach Ken Carver. "We struggled some with being consistent on all fronts for longer stretches of time than we would have liked. Some of that had to do with the number of games we've played and the miles we driven over the course of the past two days."
"We weren't as sharp, but the competition at this tournament is definitely a higher caliber so it is a good test for our team."
In the Golden Eagles' five-set loss to PSC (25-23, 14-25, 18-25, 25-18, 11-15), the Bobcats hit at a .263 attack percentage and used five aces from Cristina Viera to total 15 on the match, keeping the JBU receivers on their heels. Down 2-1 in the match and 9-3 in the fourth set, John Brown rallied to a 10-3 run to take a 13-12 lead, prompting a PSC timeout. The break didn't help as the Golden Eagles continued on its run, scoring eight of the next 10 to build a 21-16 lead, ultimately taking the set 25-18.
Three errors allowed the Bobcats (4-4) to build a 5-1 lead in the deciding set, a margin JBU could not overcome. Despite pulling to within three, 13-10, after a PSC error and a block from sophomores Jessica Meyer and Megan Beck, the Bobcats responded by landing two of the next three chances.
JBU hit just .038 in the fifth frame and .164 overall.
Later on, the Golden Eagles took out their frustration on Pharmacy (0-2) by sweeping the Eutectics by scores of 26-24, 25-9, 25-15. While neither team hit particularly well, Pharmacy was limited to a minus .039 percentage on the match, while Reagan and Meyer supplied nine and eight kills, respectively, to accompany McKinney's performance.
Twelve attacking errors kept the first set close, and the Golden Eagles responded with committing just 13 offensive errors for the remainder of the match.
Sophomore Lindsey Davis came through in the clutch with a timely termination and a rejection to give John Brown the 1-0 lead. JBU sailed the rest of the way.
JBU completed tournament play on Saturday afternoon. Results were not available at presstime.
JBU 3, Bacone 0
MUSKOGEE, Okla. -- Having been forced to change to a 5-1 offense, senior Alyssa Arnold passed out 33 assists and sophomore Carly McKinney racked up nine kills as the John Brown University volleyball team opened up Sooner Athletic Conference play with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-12) sweep at Bacone (Okla.) on Thursday night inside Palmer Gymnasium.
Arnold's 33 helpers proved to finish as a season high, which fueled a well-balanced Golden Eagles (1-0 SAC) attack that featured nearly double-digit kills from McKinney, who also posted nine digs and a pair of blocks, eight terminations from sophomore Jessica Meyer, seven kills from junior Bayli Reagan and six spikes from sophomore Lindsey Davis.
The Golden Eagles did just that, using pesky blocking and 22 digs from senior Beth Brankle to limit the Warriors (5-5, 0-1) to a lowly .020 hitting percentage, including a -0.67 clip in the second frame.
Ten service aces, including a trio from freshman Taylor Glover, helped bolster long runs throughout the contest, including a 7-0 rally in the third stanza.
Sports on 09/10/2017