PARKVILLE, Mo. -- The John Brown University volleyball squad knocked off Brescia (Ky.) in three sets in the morning before battling No. 4 Park (Mo.) in three sets later in the afternoon on Saturday (Sept. 11) inside the Breckon Sports Center.
The Bearcats (0-7) proved little match for the Golden Eagles as John Brown took the 25-11, 25-14, 25-22 sweep in workmanlike fashion, hitting over .300 in two of the three sets and holding Brescia to a negative hitting efficiency in the first two sets. Brescia ended the contest hitting just -.071 (16-22-85).
"Our match against Brescia was another example of our team being effective and efficient in almost all aspects of the game," head coach Ken Carver stated. "We put together another nice match from an offensive efficiency standpoint, led by Ellie [Lampton] and having three other players finish over .200 on the match.
"Our performance from the service line continued to be a mixed bag with eight service aces, but also with 11 service errors. We worked hard to keep Brescia out of system for the majority of the match and then focused on taking those out of system shots and putting them back into the rhythm and tempo we like to play at."
>Junior Ellie Lampton's 11 terminations stood alone as the only player to break double-digit kills. Junior Lauren Cloud sent around 21 assists and added nine digs. Junior Jillian Blackman contributed 10 digs in the back row as the Golden Eagles needed just 42 scoops in the match. Lampton, Micah Fouts and Taylor Golmen each posted a pair of block-assists.
In quite a transition, John Brown went from easily defeating a winless program to taking on fourth-ranked Park in the matinee event. JBU held its own for two sets before the Pirates (7-2) quickly finished off the third set for the sweep, 19-25, 19-25, 8-25.
Sophomore Delaney Barnes led the offense, hitting .316 and posting eight kills on 19 swings. Lampton and sophomore Savanna Riney each added five terminations.
John Brown (7-8) hit a respectable .170 (25-11-80) over the first two sets, but six of Park's 11 aces on the afternoon came in the speedy third and final game.
On defense Golmen led with five block-assists, while Lampton contributed three. Blackman earned her fifth 20-plus dig effort of the season with 21 scoops. Cloud dished out 17 assists on the Golden Eagles' 29 total kills.
JBU will now return home and to Sooner Athletic play when it welcomes Wayland Baptist (Texas) to Bill George Arena on Friday (Sept. 17) evening for a 7 p.m. scrap before taking on Oklahoma Panhandle State the following afternoon at 3 p.m. Both contests will be broadcast live on the SAC Sports Network.
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