BETHANY, Okla. -- A late surge in the second set helped the John Brown University volleyball team pick up its first victory of the year, a 3-0 (25-19, 30-28, 25-21) sweep of Southwestern Christian (Okla.) on Tuesday (Aug. 29) night inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium.
Sophomore Taylor Glover tied a season-best nine kills to lead John Brown (1-4) offensively, while freshman Carrie Ciesla passed out 19 assists, also tying a season-high mark, helping the Golden Eagle offense hit .154 (41-23-117) in the win.
Junior Jessica Meyer led with four rejections as the John Brown block effort held an 8-1 advantage over the hosts, and forced the Eagle attack to hit into 26 errors. SCU attacked at a mere .041 (31-26-121) in its 2018 home opener.
Meyer chipped in with eight kills in the win while junior Lindsey Davis hit very effectively (.538), adding eight kills and three blocks.
Neither team held a substantial lead in the first set until a 6-1 rally increased the Golden Eagle lead to 19-13, which saw kills from four Golden Eagles and an ace from senior Bayli Reagan. A late 5-0 SCU run pulled the hosts to within two, 21-19, but a pair of Davis kills, coupled with two Eagle errors, delivered the first set in John Brown's favor.
Despite holding an early 7-4 advantage, midway through the set Southwestern Christian came roaring back to take a 14-13 lead, which eventually grew into a 19-15 advantage. Down to set point at 24-22, a Reagan termination followed by a block from Meyer and junior Kinzee Mayo flipped the script in John Brown's favor. A Mayo kill in the next rally put JBU within set point, but two consecutive points from the hosts again had JBU grasping to maintain hold of the match.
As the set swung back and fourth, John Brown faced its fourth set point until a Cashlyn Munroe attack error returned the momentum back to the visitors. Ciesla's timely ace that was followed by another Munroe error finally closed out the set for JBU.
Meyer heated up in the third, providing the Golden Eagles with five kills and led John Brown to a .265 mark in the frame. Six block-assists and eight Ciesla assists powered the visitors to turning a two-point early deficit into a 13-9 advantage that JBU would never relinquish.
Munroe captured a double-double with 11 terminations and 12 digs while Jamesha Redd added 11 kills of her own in the loss for Southwestern Christian. Darian Parsons passed out all 27 assists.
The Golden Eagles turn around to face Oklahoma City tomorrow (Aug. 30) at 7:30 p.m. at Abe Lemons Arena.
