SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- The John Brown University volleyball team advanced to the Sooner Athletic tournament semifinals for the fourth time in five years after the Golden Eagles pieced together a .324 attack to sweep past Wayland Baptist (Texas) for the third time this season on Tuesday evening (Nov. 12) inside Bill George Arena.
Senior Kinzee Mayo smacked a career-high 12 terminations and hit .440 (12-1-25), while senior Carly McKinney added eight kills and a match-best 18 digs, setting up the Golden Eagles with a rubber match versus second-seeded Texas Wesleyan on Friday afternoon (Nov. 15) at 3 p.m.
In fact, all five Golden Eagles (26-7) that attempted double-digit attacks hit over .250 as the service placement continued to power the JBU attack. McKinney served up three aces while freshmen Lauren Cloud and Ellie Lampton each contributed two in the 80-minute match (25-17, 25-16, 25-14).
"I know I say how proud I am of our team frequently, but tonight's win was a dominant performance," head coach Ken Carver admitted after improving to 4-2 in the quarterfinals as JBU bench boss. "Our players definitely rose to the moment of playing higher level volleyball in a big moment. Beating any of our top conference teams three times in a season is hard to do and Wayland Baptist had been playing at a much higher level since the last time our team faced them.
"As a result, we talked about having to start the match strong and not allowing them to build momentum. One of the most important ways we were looking to do that was to serve aggressively and away from their libero, Jordan Breding. Our team did an excellent job in locating serves where coach Steve Brankle was calling for that forced Wayland out of system and negate their ability to set their best attacker, Kellie Kozak. Our setters did a great job of taking our consistent serve-receive and distributing the ball at the tempo and location we wanted tonight. Our hitters did an equally good job in taking smart swings to the areas of the court we wanted to swing at. Kinzee, in particular, came out on fire offensively and was not going to be denied tonight on the swings she was taking. In addition to her, the rest of our front row players did an excellent job taking smart and effective swings. "
The tandem of sophomore Carrie Ciesla (20) and freshman Morgan Fincham (11) accounted for 31 of JBU's 43 assists on 45 terminations, keeping the Golden Eagle hitters in rhythm all match long. John Brown hit .279 in the first set an improved to .300 in the second before topping out at .406 in the final frame.
The back row also pitched in with nearly 20 digs per set, and kept the Pioneers without an attacker in double-digit kill territory. The visitors managed just a .058 clip (21-15-104), marking the seventh consecutive match in which John Brown kept the opponent under .100 on the match. Ciesla grabbed her fourth double-double of the season with 10 scoops.
"It really was a complete win this evening that has earned us the opportunity to continue our postseason run with a rematch against Texas Wesleyan in the semifinals," Carver added. "It will take the same level of focus and execution against Texas Wesleyan to allow our team the opportunity to continue playing. We'll enjoy and celebrate this win tonight and then get back in the gym the next two days to work hard to prepare for this weekend."
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John Brown's continued postseason aspirations will require a third matchup with Texas Wesleyan in the semifinals as the squads split the season series with each team capturing a sweep on its home court. The winner will not only claim a spot in the title match on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 16), but a strong chance at earning the SAC's second auto-bid to the NAIA National Championships.
