On the heels of its 19th sweep this season, the John Brown University volleyball squad clinched the third seed in this week's Sooner Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals after it easily swept past Langston (Okla.) on Saturday afternoon inside Bill George Arena.
The win is not only JBU's sixth straight, but it's also the sixth consecutive time the Golden Eagles (25-7, 16-4 Sooner Athletic) have held opponents' attacking under .100. John Brown finishes the conference slate just one game behind second-seeded Texas Wesleyan and four behind the regular season champion, Oklahoma City.
With the Stars clinching the league's first automatic berth into the NAIA National Championships, the rest of the SAC tournament qualifiers will vie for the second auto-bid, which is awarded to the tournament champion. If Oklahoma City clinches the tournament title on its home court at Abe Lemons Arena, the bid will be awarded to the tournament runner-up.
"I'm proud of how our team came out and finished off our regular season with another sweep," head coach Ken Carver admitted. "To get to 25 wins in a season is really special and something our players can be really proud of. They've put together a special season, but now we focus on how much 'bonus' volleyball we'll have the opportunity to play."
Another balanced offensive attack was the storyline for John Brown as senior Jessica Schultz led all players with eight kills while hitting .421 (8-0-19). She also posted two solo blocks and another trio of block-assists. Seniors Megan Beck and Kinzee Mayo contributed seven terminations apiece in the 3-0 (25-8, 25-17, 25-18) victory.
"I was pleased with the focus we came out with to start the match," added Carver. "We've been emphasizing getting off to a strong start in our matches and our players definitely did that and completely dominated the first set. To Langston's credit, they re-grouped and played much better in the remaining two sets and pushed our team to execute.
"Due to our aggressive serving, Langston was out of system for the majority of the afternoon. Our back-row defense, by in large, showed good discipline in working to read and be in position to dig Langston's attacks. Elie took some really hard swings that Langston couldn't defend against as did Taylor at the pin. We were able to move Jessica around offensively and she took advantage of the openings in the block."
The John Brown serving was again effective as the Golden Eagles posted eight service aces, six of which were provided by freshman Morgan Fincham, a career high. She also dished out 15 assists, while fellow freshman Lauren Cloud notched 18 helpers in the sweep.
JBU was scheduled to host Wayland Baptist on Tuesday in the SAC tournament quarterfinals at Bill George Arena. Results were not available at presstime. The winner advances to the semifinals on Friday in Oklahoma City.
Sports on 11/13/2019