LANGSTON, Okla. -- Senior Jessica Schultz recorded 11 kills and junior Taylor Glover added nine to help power the John Brown University volleyball team to its fourth-straight Sooner Athletic Conference sweep (25-21, 25-12, 25-19) over Langston (Okla.) on Friday night inside the C.F. Gayles Fieldhouse.
The win was JBU's eighth straight and improved the Golden Eagles to 14-3 and 8-1 in conference play. JBU still trailed league-leading Oklahoma City by a half game as the Stars have been able to remain undefeated so far in SAC play this season.
In addition to Schultz and Glover, John Brown received seven kills from senior Carly McKinney and another five from junior Jaden Williams. Schultz and Glover hit .556 and .300, respectively, while Williams didn't make an error, hitting .500 on the evening.
The John Brown offense was efficient through the first two sets, and finished at a .229 clip (41-16-109), while the Lions' effort offensively was one to forget at -.009 (23-24-109).
Freshman Morgan Fincham and sophomore Carrie Cielsa kept the visitors' offense clicking with 14 and 12 assists, as the rest of the time helped JBU combine for 35 assists on 43 terminations (81 percent).
After running away with a sizable lead to start the first set, Langston tied the score at 10 and 13 before pulling within one, 21-20, late in the frame. A Lion service error followed by a Glover kill helped the Golden Eagles fend off the comeback. Freshman Jillian Blackman served up one of five John Brown aces on the night to close the set.
The second set was all John Brown as Langston hit just -.206 on the game. Leading 10-9, JBU used seven Lion errors to build a 12-1 run to take a 22-10 advantage. Assisted blocks from Schultz and senior Kinzee Mayo closed out the frame decidedly for the visitors.
While the third was JBU's lowest offensive efficiency, the Golden Eagles were still able to race out to a 15-8 lead after finishing a 9-1 rally. Senior Lindsey Clark and McKinney later added kills to force match point, which was delayed by the Lions for four rallies to pull within five, 24-19, but a Clark solo rejection would quickly end the match in the following rally.
Paced by a pair from Williams, Mayo and Clark, the Golden Eagles posted its second-highest solo blocks in any match this season with nine, and ended the contest with a total of 11.0 rejections.
Blackman led John Brown with 10 digs, the only Golden Eagle to finish in double digits.
John Brown played at Central Christian (Kan.) on Saturday afternoon. Results were not available at presstime.
JBU is back in action on Tuesday at Southwestern Christian (Okla.).
Sports on 10/06/2019