BARTLESVILLE, Okla. -- Sophomore Carly McKinney racked up 25 terminations and senior Beth Brankle scooped 41 attempts, leading the John Brown University volleyball team to a 2-0 day on Saturday (Aug. 26) with wins over Sterling (Kan.) and Friends (Kan.) on day two of the Oklahoma Wesleyan Invitational.
The Golden Eagles (4-0) remain undefeated on the season, including a perfect 3-0 mark against the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. College of the Ozarks (Mo.) joined JBU as the only unscathed teams on the weekend in the 12-team tournament.
McKinney and Sterling's hitting errors combined for a 25-14, 25-19, 25-17 clean sweep for the Golden Eagles that also saw six and five kills from sophomores Megan Beck and Lindsey Meyer, respectively. Brankle and McKinney each served up a pair of aces while senior Alyssa Arnold passed around 18 assists in the victory. McKinney barely missed her first double-double of the season with nine digs to complement Brankle's 17.
The Warriors (1-2) committed 23 attacking errors and hit just .083 percent, on top of suffered five ball handling errors and six reception errors. JBU responded with a pedestrian .223 percent attacking clip, but committed just 11 offensive mistakes and did not commit a ball handling error in the contest.
Despite eight hours between start times, John Brown returned to action in the afternoon to face Friends (0-4). The Golden Eagle offense picked up against the winless opponent, recording three frames hitting above .300 percent.
Beck continued her strong performance on the day with a team-best 15 kills while McKinney added 12 and junior Bayli Reagan contributed 11, notching her first-career double-digit termination contest.
The Falcons started out the contest with a -.030 percent effort in the first stanza and struggled to rebound, hitting just .177 percent on the afternoon. Friends managed to steal the second set to avoid the sweep, but the Golden Eagles finished off the Falcons by a 25-12, 23-25, 25-21, 25-15 final score.
Brankle notched a season-best 24 digs while Arnold and sophomore Elizabeth Williams each posted a season-high with 31 and 24 assists, respectively.
JBU hits the road again in just 48 hours, traveling to Walnut Ridge, Ark., to face Williams Baptist (Ark.) and NCAA II opponent Southern Arkansas in triangular action. JBU takes on the host Eagles 2 p.m. before taking on the Muleriders immediately after, at 4 p.m.
