OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- In the battle of the top two Sooner Athletic front runners, No. 24 Oklahoma City completed the season sweep of the John Brown University volleyball team in four sets (10-25, 22-25, 25-17, 19-25) on Wednesday (Oct. 9) evening inside Abe Lemons Arena.
The Stars continued its 16-match winning streak by limiting the Golden Eagles (16-4, 10-2 Sooner Athletic) to a season-low .089 (43-29-158) hitting percentage and receiving double-digit termination efforts from Marijana Bjelobrk (18) and Lacy Beeler (10).
The setback ended the JBU winning streak at 10 as the last John Brown setback was to the Stars inside Bill George Arena on Sept. 6.
"City was clearly the better team tonight," head coach Ken Carver admitted. "Our passing improved from the last time we played them, but we struggled to maintain any offensive consistency tonight. Their block and back-row defense kept the majority of our hitters in check tonight. We struggled to set our pin hitters at the tempo we needed in order to allow them to beat the block, and then when we did, our hitters didn't locate shots consistently.
"It's been a long time since we had that low of an offensive night and that was the biggest contribution to our loss this evening. A couple of bright spots in the midst of the tough loss was Jessica's stellar offensive output and the defense's hustle plays that Jillian made throughout the match. We'll look to get back on the winning side of things this weekend in Des Moines."
Senior Jessica Schultz belted a team-leading 12 kills, hitting .308, and added a pair of block-assists, while junior Jaden Williams contributed nine kills on 22 swings. Junior Taylor Glover added seven spikes and three total blocks.
Freshman Jillian Blackman contributed a career-best performance on the back line, pacing the defensive effort with 22 digs to accompany a pair of services aces. Senior Carly McKinney scooped up 11 City attempts and added six kills and a block-assist.
The first set was all Stars as the hosts used a .304 attack to blow open a 7-4 set into a double-digit lead at 14-4. The visitors countered with a .000 attack as it looked to gain its footing.
Kills from Schultz and Glover kicked off the second set for the Golden Eagles, which carried the lead throughout the majority of the set. Five total Schultz terminations helped JBU maintain a lead at 17-16, but Oklahoma City rattled off an ill-timed 6-1 rally to take the lead, 22-18. Glover's solo rejection kept the game alive at set point, 24-22, but Bjelobrk's kill ended the set - handing the Stars a commanding 2-0 advantage.
JBU's strongest effort came in the third, where the Golden Eagles held City to a negative attack effort, while boasting a match-best .158 (11-5-38). Four block-assists early on thwarted the Stars' momentum as the Golden Eagles built an 8-2 early lead. The hosts would eventually pull within two, 11-9, but John Brown responded with an 8-1 rally, fueled by four OCU errors and a timely Ellie Lampton service ace. Freshman Lauren Cloud's ace and later kills from Williams and senior Megan Beck kept the Stars from mounting a comeback as another error ended the set and pulled JBU within a set.
After the Stars took a quick 6-2 lead to open the fourth, McKinney and Williams terminations pulled the visitors within one, 6-5, a different the visitors would hold until 8-7. City then ran off a 7-2 run that created a six-point cushion at 15-9. A quick 3-0 retaliation pulled the Golden Eagles closer, but another 5-2 OCU stretch forced a 20-14 score. A Glover kill followed by a Stars error delayed match point twice, but again, a Bjelobrk kill ended the frame and the match.
Ciesla (22) and freshman Morgan Fincham (15) combined for 37 of John Brown's 42 assists on the match.
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will now seek to begin a new winning streak and will move on to play in its final non-conference stretch of the season. On Friday (Oct. 9), John Brown will begin a four-match tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by Grand View. JBU will take on St. Ambrose (Iowa) to kick off the tournament on Friday at noon.
