FT. WORTH, Texas -- The 2021 Sooner Athletic regular season champions hit like they had just sewn up the top seed in the upcoming tournament as the John Brown University volleyball team fell in four sets (13-25, 13-25, 25-15, 25-21) Saturday (Nov. 6) afternoon inside the Sid Richardson Center.
After hitting .556 (16-1-27) in the first set, the Rams (23-5, 18-2 Sooner Athletic) slowly cooled off, but finished the afternoon at a .313 clip (56-16-128), while the Golden Eagles (15-17, 9-11) responded with a .182 efficiency (45-18-148). JBU did hit .333 in the third set, a 25-15 win.
Sophomore Savanna Riney smacked 10 kills and added a pair of blocks, while freshman Taylor Golmen finished at .292, producing nine kills a three block-assists. Freshman Delany Barnes also hit .259 (8-1-27) on the afternoon.
The Rams out-paced John Brown in kills (56-45), aces (6-5), total blocks (9-3) and digs (80-51).
Junior Morgan Fincham passed out 22 assists for the John Brown offense. Junior Jillian Blackman just missed her 13th 20-dig performance of the season with 19 scoops in the back row.
Bailey Foy was nearly unstoppable for TXWES, hitting .640 while swatting down 17 terminations on 25 swings. She also threw up five blocks.
Nyia Anderson and Sydney Charlton each contributed 10 kills, while Morgan Burns dished out 47 assists on 56 Wesleyan kills. Three Rams neared the 20-dig mark, led by Skylar Warde's 18.
The Golden Eagles will now wait to see who they face in the SAC tournament quarterfinals, scheduled to begin on Tuesday (Nov. 9) evening. John Brown will be hitting the road as the lower seed, with all eight teams vying for a chance to qualify for the semifinals, scheduled for later that week inside Abe Lemons Arena in Oklahoma City.
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