From JBU Sports Information
In a wild marathon, the John Brown University volleyball team used career highs from senior Bayli Reagan and freshman Jenna Lowery to avoid losing a 2-0 advantage in the contest, as the Golden Eagles defeated Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 3-2 (25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 23-25, 16-14) on Wednesday night inside Bill George Arena.
Reagan blasted a career-high 20 kills on an enormous hitting effort, clocking in at .576 (20-1-33), while Lowery scooped a career-best 34 digs as John Brown (11-8, 10-4 Sooner Athletic Conference) took the fifth set in come-from-behind fashion.
Both passers had career nights for John Brown, as freshman Carrie Ciesla passed out 25 assists and junior Elizabeth Williams assisted on 35 of John Brown's 72 terminations. The duo helped the hosts hit .245 (72-26-188) on the match.
Four Golden Eagles finished the contest in double-digit kills, as sophomore Taylor Glover (14), junior Megan Beck and junior Lindsey (Davis) powered the Golden Eagle offense. Glover's 14 proved to be a career-high.
"Tonight's match against MACU was nothing less than two teams battling back and forth for just enough surges of momentum at critical moments to win sets," JBU head coach Ken Carver said. "MACU showed a lot of heart and grit to battle back from an 0-2 deficit and have our team on the ropes in the fifth before we were able to claw our way back and do just enough with a block termination and a timely overpass kill to seal the win.
"While we definitely showed some mental and physical fatigue in sets three and four, I was extremely proud of our players that they kept fighting and kept their communication positive in our huddles as to what we needed to do next. We did enough to grind out the win tonight and hold our place in the conference standing moving forward."
Led by 19 kills from Da'Jah Thompson, MACU (10-12, 5-8) also earned 11 terminations from both Dianne Walter and Hannah Balzer-Lipsett and Alexa Bass assisted on 47 of the Evangels' 60 kills.
Back-to-back John Brown attack errors allowed the visitors to capture match point, 14-13, but coming out of a timeout, the Golden Eagles responded with a Kinzee Mayo kill and, with the serve, stole back the match from MACU.
Glover and Davis teamed up for a rejection at the left pin to earn match point, and an overpass that was swatted down at the left line by Glover finished the match that lasted 2:16.
Davis led the JBU block effort at the net with two solo rejections and a trio of assists. Junior Jessica Meyer added four of her own while Glover contributed three, including half of the big-time stuff to move JBU to match point.
JBU 3, USAO 0
After its winning streak inside Bill George Arena was snapped Oct. 5, the John Brown University volleyball team wasted no time, picking up a straight sets win (25-14, 25-11, 25-12) over Science and Arts (Okla.) on Tuesday night.
Junior Elizabeth Williams passed out 17 assists to cross the 1,000-helper threshold on her career. Freshman Carrie Ciesla added another 19 assists, helping the Golden Eagles (10-8, 9-4 Sooner Athletic) hit .337 (46-13-98) on the match.
The John Brown balanced attack came from three primary attackers, while four Golden Eagles hit over the .400 mark.
Sophomore Taylor Glover rang up nine kills and junior Jessica Meyer added eight. Junior Kinzee Mayo contributed eight terminations on 13 swings (.538) and junior Lindsey Davis added an efficient four kills on seven attempts (.571).
In the back row, freshman Jenna Lowery dug up a match-best 20 of USAO's 74 attempts and fielded all nine reception attempts sent her way. Freshman Elizabeth Parrish earned 11 scoops and went eight-of-eight in receiving.
Junior Megan Beck joined Davis with a pair of block-assists, helping the hosts to a 4-1 advantage in rejections.
Passionette Breedlove finished with seven kills and hit .462 (7-1-13) to lead the Drovers (4-18, 2-11) while no other Drover had more than a trio of terminations.
JBU loses twice at Hampton Inn Classic
The John Brown University volleyball team took a pair of losses on the first day Friday of the Hampton Inn Classic, hosted by Columbia (Mo.), as the Golden Eagles fell in four sets to William Woods (Mo.) and later in straight sets to No. 5 Missouri Baptist on Friday inside the Southwell Complex.
In the first contest against William Woods (17-8), John Brown nearly pushed the match to a deciding fifth set, but the Owls erased a late 22-16 score late in the fourth. A match-ending 9-1 rally broke JBU's modest two-match winning streak.
Neither team really got going offensively. The Golden Eagles hit .073 (44-33-151) on the match while WWU attacked at a .140 (44-25-136).
Sophomore Taylor Glover hit .222 to pace the John Brown offense with eight kills on 27 swings. Senior Bayli Reagan added 10 terminations and junior Kinzee Mayo contributed eight of her own.
William Woods used a strong blocking effort to force 33 John Brown attacking errors as the Owls piled up a 15-3 team blocking advantage in the contest.
Seven Owls had at least a pair of block-assists, but Tory Wiley led the William Woods effort by posting 11 kills and five block-assists. The balanced Owl attack also included eight kills and 29 assists from Remie Johnson.
Against the fifth-ranked Spartans, MBU's balanced and efficient attack finished off the Golden Eagles in sweeping fashion.
Glover again hit her way to lead the John Brown offense with a team-best six kills on 19 swings (.211).
Junior Lindsey Davis contributed a trio of block-assists in the loss.
The tournament continued on Saturday. Results were not available at presstime.
Sports on 10/14/2018