SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- The John Brown University volleyball team hit .259 in the final set and received a pair of big-time blocks from junior Bayli Reagan and sophomore Jessica Meyer and the Golden Eagles hung on for a 3-2 win (25-14, 16-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-11) over Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Friday night (Oct. 6) inside Bill George Arena.
The John Brown (17-5, 6-2 Sooner Athletic) blocking game came up often and in crucial times, powered by five blocks from sophomore Lindsey Davis, four from sophomore Carly McKinney and a trio from Meyer.
The momentum swing wildly throughout the contest, as reflected in the JBU attacking effort. Three sets featured a .171 attack percentage or lower, while in the first set John Brown hit .571 and .259 in the fifth and deciding set. Ultimately, the Golden Eagles hit .189 (56-24-169) while the Pioneers (12-8, 4-4) hit .174 (58-28-172).
"Everyone in the gym tonight got to experience the highs and lows that come with our sport," admitted head coach Ken Carver. "Both teams had moments of executing at high levels offensively and both teams had moments where there were far too many unforced errors. Thankfully, our team was able to come around and focus when the match was on the line in the fifth set and finished off the match on a very strong note and very good defensive execution."
After John Brown made quick work of the visitors in the first set, the Pioneers responded by holding JBU to a -.051 percentage (7-9-39) in the second set to tie the score at one.
With a commanding 18-12 lead in the third and looking to take control of the match, Baptist allowed the Golden Eagles some wiggle room, and John Brown came storming back with a set-ending 13-3 run, powered by a trio of Reagan terminations and a number of untimely Pioneer errors.
The Pioneers took an early 7-1 lead in the fourth and never looked back, setting up a pivotal fifth set.
"We've talked about different points and times during the course of our season about acknowledging what the reality of the situation is and then immediately asking what do we need to do to still put ourselves in a position to be successful regardless of the situation," Carver added. "Our team showed that mental toughness and resiliency and while tonight was not the 'prettiest' of wins, it was still an important conference win."
Down 6-2 in the fifth, a key Bailei Brown kill started the comeback effort that eventually saw JBU tie the match at 6, 7, 8 and 9 apiece. Finally, a thunderous kill from Meyer in the middle handed the lead over to John Brown for good, but not until a key string of rallies that featured solo blocks from Reagan and Meyer that bookended another key cross-court kill from Reagan.
While Wayland delayed match point twice, finally Meyer ended it with her 12th termination of the night.
Reagan and McKinney paced the JBU offense with 16 kills apiece while Meyer added 12 in the win. Senior Alyssa Arnold passed out 47 assists, served up a trio of aces, and dug a team-best 22 balls while senior Beth Brankle added 21 scoops on the back line.
Megan Sharratt paced Wayland with 17 kills while Mallorie Ellis landed 14 kills and posted 14 digs. Amber Daniel added a dozen kills and 11 digs, Jordan Breding recorded 28 digs, Kellie Kozak three blocks, and Elisabeth Piroli 13 digs and 50 assists.
"Similar to our win earlier against City, there's definitely a 'mystic' about Wayland where we've battled against them and have had some opportunities to win in the past, but their team was the one able to find ways to pull those close matches out. Our blocking was the difference for us tonight, especially in crunch time in the fifth set.
"To stuff Megan Sharratt, who is one of the leading attackers in our conference, was great execution by our middles," noted Carver. "The sets we won, our serve reception was on point and we were able to run more of our tempo of offense and Alyssa was doing a good job in the offensive play selection she was choosing to utilize. A big thanks to all of the fans we had to kick off our Homecoming 2017 matches as well as a majority of our student body come decked out in pink attire in support of Dig Pink efforts."
The Golden Eagles pick right back tomorrow morning with an 11 a.m. first serve with conference newcomer Oklahoma Panhandle State inside Bill George Arena.
