CHICKASHA, Okla. - The John Brown University volleyball team swept past Science & Arts (Okla.) on Friday night (Oct. 28) inside the Drover Fieldhouse, booking themselves a home date in the upcoming Sooner Athletic tournament.
The Golden Eagles (20-5, 14-3 SAC) clinched the third seed after dispating the Drovers (8-15, 4-14 SAC), in a trio of closely contested sets. The Drovers came the closest to taking a set in the opening stanza when the Golden Eagles took the win 25-23, and JBU wrapped up the night with consecutive 25-21 set victories.
JBU took the first two points of the night, but USAO rallied to tie the score at 5-5 before Savanna Riney served JBU on a 4-0 run that put the Golden Eagles on top until late in the set. With JBU leading 23-20, USAO battled back to tie things up at 23 before Riney notched a kill to restore JBU's edge, and then she served out the set for a 25-23 JBU victory.
In set two, JBU opened on a 4-0 run with Lauren Cloud serving, and their lead reached 7-2 before USAO again rallied. The Drovers took their first lead of the night in the middle of set two when they inched ahead 12-11, but JBU kept things tight and then finished the set with five straight points to take the win, 25-21.
The Drovers started set three with a pair of points, but JBU answered with a 6-1 run to take the 6-3 lead, and JBU did not trail again in the match. The Golden Eagles held USAO at bay through the remainder of the stanza, and took the 25-21 win to complete the sweep.
Riney finished the night with a match-high 14 kills and she attacked the ball at a .312 clip. Taylor Golmen added eight kills on the night, and Lilly Ruston hit .357 with seven kills . Cloud (19) and Morgan Fincham (15) each reached double figures in assists, and Julie Milligan (15) and Jillian Blackman (14) each surpassed 10 digs. Ruston added six blocks in the match, Micah Fouts was a part of five, and Golman took part in four blocks.
The Golden Eagles will make the roughly 30-minute trek north to Oklahoma City on Saturday when they will do battle with Mid-America Christian (Okla.) in which a victory would leave the door cracked for JBU to move up to the second seed if they were to win out and get help. The contest versus the Evangels will air live on the SAC Sports Network at 1 p.m.
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