BELLEVUE, Neb. -- After falling in both of its matches on day one, the Golden Eagle volleyball squad rebounded on day two of the Labor Day Classic, hosted by Bellevue (Neb.), earning a win over William Woods (Mo.) after falling in straight sets to Briar Cliff (Iowa).
The Chargers entered the first match of the day a perfect 5-0 and lived up to its billing, dispatching JBU in three-straight (14-25, 17-25, 19-25). Despite improving in each set, John Brown was unable to answer the relentless hitting of Briar Cliff as the Chargers finished the match with a .293 hitting percentage. The Golden Eagles were unable to respond, landing only 24 kills while accumulating 20 errors, leading to a .041 hitting percentage on the morning.
Senior defensive specialist Staci Williamson turned in a team-high 10 digs in the losing effort. For the first time this season, sophomore outside hitter Audrey Dearien wasn't the team leader in kills as junior outside hitter Courtney Marshall paced John Brown with eight kills. Dearien finished with a season-low six and sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Libby Blasingame landed four kills.
Dearien did however post a season-high six services aces in the losing effort as BCU finished with the advantage in kills (44-24), assists (41-22), digs (46-34) and blocks (7.0-4.0).
The second match of the day featured William Woods (0-5) as John Brown finally halted its four-match losing skid.
After winning the first two sets handily(25-20, 25-14), JBU dropped a closely-contested third set (26-28) before finally wrapping up the match in decisive fashion in game four (25-18).
Dearien found her groove once again, notching her third double-double of the season after contributing 13 kills and 19 digs. Senior middle blocker Erin McIlroy also chipped in with 13 kills as Williamson finished with a match-highs in digs (24) and service aces (4).
The Golden Eagles returned to hitting in the .200 percent area against the Owls, completing the match at .254 percent, hitting over .300 percent in the first and fourth sets. Freshman setter Shayna Daniels contributed a game-high 33 assists as counterpart senior setter Kailey Bain ended up with 15.
John Brown now stands at 3-4 on the young season and will take a week-long hiatus before it travels to Baldwin City, Kan. to play in the Baker (Kan.) Invitational. The Golden Eagles will face Baker, Graceland (Iowa), Friends (Kan.) and a rematch with Benedictine (Kan.) during its four-match weekend.
