SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Despite losing five of their last six contests, the Golden Eagles felt confident they could add to the win column tonight at Evangel (Mo.) as John Brown had previous beaten the Crusaders 3-1 on Aug. 31. Unfortunately for JBU, Evangel came out of the gates swinging tonight, handing the Golden Eagles a 3-0 (12-25, 23-25, 14-25) defeat.
The loss sends John Brown to 18-13 on the season while Evangel ups its record to 19-13.
A trio of hitters paced the Golden Eagle offense tonight that was only able to muster 27 kills. Audrey Dearien, Libby Blasingame and Erin McIlroy each posted six kills on the evening, combining for the majority of the JBU offensive attack.
The Crusader defense kept John Brown at bay for most of the evening, limiting the Golden Eagle to a .074 attack percentage on the match.
Two EU players turned in double-digit kill performances as Kailey Lyons notched 15 putaways while Micah Cribbs finished the evening with twelve. The host squad hit at a .301 clip while outblocking JBU, 8-2.
John Brown was forced to edge Evangel in digs (43-28) as the Crusaders continued to send attacks JBU's way. Becca Young recorded a match-high 11 digs.
The Golden Eagles now have five remaining games on their slate, four Sooner Athletic Conference matchups and one non-conference contest against in-state rival, Lyon College.
John Brown will return to the court on Saturday (Oct. 27) when it hosts a tri-match which features games at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. against No. 10 Oklahoma Baptist and Lyon (Ark.), respectively.
