SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Despite logging thousands of miles on the road, Bill George Arena continues to remain a safe haven for the John Brown University volleyball team as the Golden Eagles (21-5, 10-2 Sooner Athletic) dispatched Bacone (Okla.) in straight sets on Wednesday night (Oct. 18), its third sweep at home this season.
Sophomore Carly McKinney hit .560 (16-2-25) and posted 16 kills, three aces and 11 digs, her ninth double-double of the season, and sophomore Jessica Meyer hit .353 (11-5-17) on the evening, posting 11 kills and four blocks.
Senior Alyssa Arnold had another strong passing performance, dishing out 42 assists, the ninth time this season eclipsing 40 assists, and helped the John Brown offense to an efficiency of .278 (51-16-126).
With the win, the Golden Eagles cement themselves as one of the top four seeds in the 2017 SAC tournament. In the quarterfinals, each of the four top seeds host the bottom four seeds before the winners of the respective matches continue on to the semifinals and finals in Oklahoma City.
While the Warriors (8-14, 2-10) stayed relatively close in the first and third sets before the hosts pulled away late, a 13-0 Golden Eagle rally in the second set provided a lopsided result in the 25-16, 25-10, 25-18 final score.
Nine service aces, including a pair from junior Bayli Reagan, sophomore Elisabeth Bjornsen and senior Beth Brankle helped extend the runs and keep the Bacone offense out of system.
"It was good to pick up another conference win tonight," head coach Ken Carver admitted. "There were definitely moments throughout the match where we executed at a high efficiency rate on both sides of the ball and other times where our timing, spacing or communication were just a bit off. In spite of that, our team played well. Defensively, we knew we were going to see a lot of out-of-system shots and some funky angles from the Bacone attackers, so being able to dig up more than half of Bacone's attack attempts speaks to a good effort by our players defensively.
"I'm pleased with the focus and effort our team has put into the past three weeks as we've really worked hard to re-focus and hone our game since our Texas trip. The remaining conference matches all have conference tournament seeding implications so we understand the task that is before us. As a team we are excited to be in the position we are in and our main focus is challenging ourselves to see just how good we can be, regardless of who we're facing across the net on any given night. As we keep striving for that level of excellence we'll give ourselves an opportunity to put the finishing touches on what has been an outstanding season for our team."
Reagan peppered 11 kills around while Brankle and Arnold each dug up 10 Warrior attempts.
Teleza Collier and Justine Sandoval each recorded seven digs for the visitors, but the offense as a whole struggled, eclipsing .100 in a set just once and finishing the match with a .074 attacking percentage (21-14-95).
The Golden Eagles now have a nine-day rest before a pivotal match at Oklahoma City on Friday (Oct. 27) at 6 p.m.
