OKLAHOMA CITY -- After its upset over second-seeded Oklahoma City earlier in the week, the Golden Eagles eyed a position in the Sooner Athletic tournament finals for the first time since 2008, but third seed Southwestern A.G. (Texas) defeated the John Brown University volleyball team for the third time this season, this time in four sets (25-22, 17-25, 15-25, 20-25) inside Abe Lemons Arena on Friday (Nov. 12) evening.
The Golden Eagles (16-18), the tournament's seven seed, took a 1-0 lead in the match on fiver first-set terminations from sophomore Savanna Riney, but SAGU responded with three straight set victories as the JBU offense was limited to an .089 attack efficiency in the final trio of periods.
Junior Jillian Blackman had a career night in the loss, as the recently-named SAC Defensive Player of the Year posted a new career high with 46 digs, the most of any single conference student-athlete this season.
Blackman's workload in the back row was a result of SAGU's ability to avoid the John Brown blocking effort, as the Golden Eagles boasted just 3.0 total blocks and the Lions ended the night hitting .255 (54-13-161). Alexis Mealer led all players with 20 terminations in the win for Southwestern A.G., which advances to its first SAC championship match in program history.
Riney paced the John Brown offense with 15 kills on 40 swings (.225), while Freshman of the Year Taylor Golmen contributed 10 terminations on a .500 (10-1-18) attacking clip.
Juniors Morgan Fincham and Lauren Cloud passed out 22 and 17 assists, respectively, and each added one service ace.
At the conclusion of the 2021 SAC Tournament, Savanna Riney was named to the All-Tournament team.
FOLLOW THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Don't miss a minute of the latest action surrounding JBU Athletics by following the Golden Eagles on Twitter (@JBUathletics), Instagram (@JBUathletics) and Facebook (/JBUathletics). Catch every Golden Eagle home game and select away games on the SAC Sports Network, available online or for download on your favorite streaming device.
