Golden Eagles Run Away with Fourth-Straight Conference Win

SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- The John Brown volleyball team (14-6, 4-2 SAC) used double-digit kills from seniors Audrey Dearien and Melissa Bakke, and the Golden Eagle defense held Southwestern Christian (Okla.) to a mere .052 hitting percentage helping JBU capture a sweep (25-18, 25-18, 25-19) on senior night inside Bill George Arena on Saturday (Oct. 3).

John Brown used five team blocks, led by three block assists from junior Molli Pugh, and dug 41 SCU attack attempts, paced by Deariens 11, to keep the visiting Eagles off balance for the majority of the match. Southwestern Christian (9-13, 2-5 SAC) was forced into 23 attack errors as the Golden Eagles captured its fourth-consecutive Sooner Athletic match after starting the conference slate 0-2.

With the victory, JBU finished the week 2-1 and has responded with wins in four of its last five after suffering a season-worst three-game losing skid.

“This was the best match of the week for us by far,” said head coach Ken Carver. “Todays performance by the team is definitely more of what we expect from ourselves when we step on the court to play. Very happy to get a win for our seniors on the day we were honoring them as well as jump-starting the homecoming events with a victory.

“Our first-ball contact was a lot more consistent and as a result, we were able to run a much more balanced offense today. I was happy with our defensive effort as well, especially on the front row. We were able to block terminate for points today and forced Southwestern Christians attackers to hit around our block to areas where we were generally stationed defensively.”

Pugh hit an impressive .545 percent on the afternoon (7-1-11) and much of her success was fueled by perfect sets from sophomore Alyssa Arnold. Arnold earned seven of her game-high 32 assists by playing Pugh to the middle of the net, where Pugh landed the majority of her terminations.

Up just 7-6 early in the first frame, a pair of kills from Dearien and Pugh, helped by two Eagle miscues, sent the hosts on an 8-2 rally to break open the set. Senior Libby Blasingame provided a trio of smacks to push the lead to eight, 21-13, allowing JBU to run away with the first set.

Finishing the contest with a .273 attack clip (39-12-99), the Golden Eagles enjoyed its highest success rate in the first period, attacking at a .364 percent pace.

Knotted at 16 apiece in the second, freshman Bayli Reagan served a pair of aces and a Karis Buff termination fueled a 6-1 rally to place the set out of reach for Southwestern Christian. Bakke put the finishing touches on the set with an ace and a kill.

Similarly, the third set was knotted at 15 until freshman Brittany Ayers posted her first collegiate ace and three consecutive SCU attack errors vaulted JBU to a 22-17 lead. After the Eagles pulled within four, 23-19, Dearien finished senior day with three straight terminations to finish the match.

I also thought our team did a good job coming out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and did a good job of staying up throughout the entire match,” Carver added. “Todays win was a good way to finish off the week, honor our senior players and continue to move us in the direction we want to go in conference play.”

Tory Sharp posted 12 kills and 10 digs in the loss for SCU while Terina Harris notched a match-high 14 digs.

The Golden Eagles will return to Bill George Arena on Tuesday (Oct. 6) when it welcomes Mid-America Christian (Okla.) for a 7 p.m. first serve.