SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Freshman additions to the lineup provided nearly 60 percent of the offense, and the John Brown University volleyball team captured a season-opening victory by claiming the last three sets in a 3-1 victory over Mid-America Christian (Okla.) on Monday (Feb. 22) evening inside Bill George Arena.
The Golden Eagles (1-0, 1-0 Sooner Athletic) had the first set in hand before a late Evangel rally placed the hosts in an early hole, but hitting at a .240 clip over the final three games provided a win after 465 days of no play – and besting a team that had 16 matches under its belt entering tonight's contest.
Freshman Emily Essick led John Brown with 13 kills on 37 swings (.270) while freshman Micah Fouts, at times dominant in the middle, notched 11 terminations in her collegiate debut and posted three blocks. Sophomore Ellie Lampton hit a stellar .500 with 11 kills, five digs and four blocks.
Sophomore Lauren Cloud had herself a career night – serving up six aces to accompany a double-double – finishing with 27 assists and 10 digs. Counterpart junior Carrie Ciesla had 18 assists.
"Lauren was extremely efficient in locating her sets and going to the right attacker in-system as evidenced by a set efficiency that was approaching 50 percent," head coach Ken Carver noted. "She also was a force from the service line tonight."
As the match wore on, the John Brown blocking improved. Lampton's four blocks led all players, which Fouts and senior Jaden Williams each had three apiece. The Golden Eagle blockers owned a 6-4 rejection advantage, keeping the Evangels, save for Hanna Foecker, out of sync for much of the contest.
Sophomore Jillian Blackman anchored the John Brown defense to the tune of 27 digs, and helped hold the MACU (9-8, 0-1) offense to 25 errors and a .153 (48-25-150) hitting mark. The Golden Eagles finished the evening at a .213 clip (53-21-150), and hit over .300 during sets three and four.
"Tonight's match was a combination excitement mixed in with a sense of relief finding some bits of normalcy being on the court again," admitted Carver. "The first set was a bit on the sloppy slide with too many unforced errors, however, we did a much better job for the remainder of the match. Once we were able to find rhythm, especially in sets three and four, we were very efficient with our attacking, converted several block terminations and then was able to dial in our service game – which not only allowed us to score points, but was able to keep MACU more out of system.
"Ellie, along with Emily and Micah, definitely led the offensive charge for our team. Jillian was very consistent in serve reception, served aggressively and forced MACU out of system and then was sweeping up everything in the back row."
Foecker had a match-best 23 kills on 57 attempts (.316) and added nine digs and three blocks. Morgan Van Meir passed out 43 helpers in the loss for MACU. Besides Foecker, the Evangels had only one other attacker hitting at a positive clip (Maddie Callicoat).
"We're young and there's still a lot of growth for our team moving ahead in a condensed timeframe" Carver noted. "While getting an important conference win is great, I just enjoyed being out there with our players and hearing the energy and excitement of our bench as they celebrated the success of their teammates on the court as well as offered them encouragement."
The Golden Eagles return to action on Friday (Feb. 26) night when JBU takes on Science & Arts (Okla.) at 6 p.m. inside the Drover Fieldhouse. The contest is the start of a three match road trip for John Brown.
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).
