GOODWELL, Okla. -- Down 24-22 late in the first set, the John Brown University volleyball team rallied back with four straight points to claim the set and rolled to a sweep (26-24, 25-12, 25-23) of Oklahoma Panhandle State on Friday (Oct. 19) night inside the Oscar Williams Fieldhouse.
With a chance to pull within four more wins needed to sew up home-court advantage in the Sooner Athletic tournament tomorrow afternoon on the line, the visitors took advantage of a pair of Aggie errors, coupled with two Kinzee Mayo kills, to finish off a dramatic first set that saw a four-point John Brown (12-12, 11-4) advantage evaporate midway through.
A pair of lengthy runs, seven and nine points, respectively, made the second set a quick one, but the third set saw one attempt at a comeback by host Panhandle State (5-18, 4-11).
Twelve ties in the third game highlighted a back-and-forth affair. Freshman Jaden Williams' kill late gave the visitors a 20-17 lead, but a four-point run returned the lead back to OPSU. Lindsey Davis tied the match at 23 with a kill, and after an Aggie attack error, ended the match on a spike from Carrie Ciesla, the freshman's 14th of the match – completing the sweep.
The victory moved John Brown within one game of clinching a home date on Nov. 6 in the SAC tournament quarterfinals, and also ended a six-match losing skid away from Bill George Arena.
The balanced front-line effort, which hit .455 in the third, saw nine kills from junior Jessica Meyer and seven kills apiece from junior Megan Beck and Mayo. Senior Bayli Reagan and Davis each chipped in with six terminations.
Junior Elizabeth Williams helped the JBU offense hit at a .211 clip (42-18-114) with 18 assists. In the back row, freshman Jenna Lowery scooped up a team-best 17 Aggie attack attempts.
OPSU's Lauren Hastings hit well (.455) and launched a team-best six kills, but Quiara Pointdexter was limited to three kills on 20 swings. Of the Aggies' mere 23 terminations in the match, Cailyn Berry assisted on 20.
John Brown will wrapup the weekend road trip by heading out further west to Plainview, Texas, to face Wayland Baptist at 6 p.m.
