OKLAHOMA CITY -- Senior Megan Beck contributed a season-high 13 kills and the John Brown University volleyball team stormed back to take a 1-0 lead, but second-seeded Texas Wesleyan ended the Golden Eagles season in four sets (26-24, 17-25, 18-25, 23-25) in the Sooner Athletic tournament semifinals inside Abe Lemons Arena on Friday afternoon (Nov. 15).
The Rams land the league's second autobid to the NAIA National Championships via advancing to the finals to face regular season champion, Oklahoma City, on Saturday afternoon. The Stars earned the SAC's first autobid by capturing the 2019 regular season title.
The third-seeded Golden Eagles (26-8) rode a trio of Beck terminations and a Wesleyan attacking error to turn a 22-19 deficit into the one-point lead. The Rams responded by verging on set point, but another Beck kill tied the set at 24. Consecutive kills from seniors Kinzee Mayo and Jessica Schultz ended the comeback effort to give JBU a dramatic 1-0 lead.
Holding the Rams to a .093 attacking effort in the first frame, the Golden Eagles then saw its opposition hit .177 (41-20-118) over the remaining three sets.
Wesleyan ran out to a 12-7 lead in the second and extended the margin to seven, 20-13.
Another quick 8-4 Ram advantage ballooned into another margin that John Brown couldn't overcome in the third.
In the fourth and deciding set, kills from Beck, junior Taylor Glover and senior Lindsey Clark turned a late 18-17 disadvantage into a 21-19 lead. The teams would find themselves deadlocked at 21, 22 and 23, until a JBU attacking error was followed by a match-clinching Rams termination to end the John Brown season.
Glover added 12 kills and a pair of blocks, while Schultz finished with eight kills and a trio of rejections. John Brown hit .117 (52-29-196) on the match.
Freshman Jillian Blackman dug up 19 Wesleyan attempts to lead three Golden Eagles in double-digit scoops territory. Senior Carly McKinney added 17 while freshman Morgan Fincham added 10.
Sophomore Carrie Ciesla and Fincham split setting duties to the tune of 19 and 15 assists, respectively.
The Ram back-row defense scooped up 106 John Brown attacks, 22 more than the Golden Eagles, while Wesleyan out-blocked JBU by a 12.5-7.0 margin.
Saying Goodbye »
Five Golden Eagle careers came to and end as seniors
Jessica Schultz,
Lindsey Clark,
Megan Beck,
Kinzee Mayo and
Carly McKinney each played their last match in the Blue and Gold.
After the tournament finals, Beck was named to the All-Tournament team.
