SILOAM SPRINGS -- Freshman Delaney Barnes and Savanna Riney each contributed 10 kills and the Golden Eagles never trailed as the John Brown University volleyball team cemented its third-straight sweep (25-20, 25-15, 25-16), this time over Central Christian (Kan.) on Saturday (March 20) afternoon inside Bill George Arena.
While both teams hit efficiently on the afternoon, the Golden Eagles (8-2, 6-2 Sooner Athletic) remained undefeated at home by hitting .327 (47-11-110) – its highest margin of the season.
JBU also proved deadly from the service line, launching 13 aces, its second-highest output on the season. Riney, sophomore Morgan Fincham and sophomore Jillian Blackman each posted three aces.
"Today brought to an end a very full 7-10 days worth of matches and travel for our team," noted head coach Ken Carver. "I couldn't be more proud of our focus and effort during this stretch of time as there were many challenges – lots of miles on the road, back-to-back matches twice and multiple lineup changes. To finish this stretch with only one loss, I couldn't be happier for our team.
"I felt Central Christian played their best match of the season against us this afternoon. While we talked about having to be ready for all kinds of shots and tempos, more balls found the floor for them than I would have anticipated. Beyond that, I was really pleased with our execution – our aggressive serving eventually paid big dividends in the second and third sets."
Barnes, naturally a middle, played at the pin and delivered her third double-digit kill effort of the season, hitting .409 (10-1-22) while flashing her versatility. For the sixth-straight match, Riney posted double-figure terminations and hit .471 (10-2-17) on the afternoon. Senior Jaden Williams also hit .412 (9-2-17) and contributed nine kills.
Barnes also anchored the front-row defensive effort, posting a trio of block-assists, while counterpart freshman Micah Fouts delivered three block-assists of her own to accompany a solo block. In the back row, sophomore Jillian Blackman did what she could – posting 15 digs as John Brown kept the visiting Tigers (2-20, 0-8) to just 93 attack attempts – the second-fewest the Golden Eagles have seen this season.
Sophomores Morgan Fincham and Lauren Cloud ran the offense proficiently – as the duo combined for 38 assists, 19 apiece, on John Brown's 47 terminations (.809).
The Golden Eagles will now rest until Wednesday (March 24) when JBU travels to Little Rock to face Philander Smith (Ark.) in the front-end of the home-and-home series with the Panthers. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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