SILOAM SPRINGS -- The John Brown University volleyball team broke a 10-all tie in the final set with a 9-3 rally to close out Southwestern Christian (Okla.) in four sets (25-17, 25-19, 21-25, 25-18) on Wednesday night (Oct. 5) inside Bill George Arena.
The Golden Eagles (13-5, 8-3 Sooner Athletic) served up 12 aces – the fifth time this season in double digits – and largely relied on junior Savanna Riney, who produced a career-high 24 kills, constituting over a third of the John Brown offensive attack.
Riney didn't just produce huge numbers in the front row, but she also finished the evening with 19 digs, flirting with a 20-20 performance. She also boasted three block-assists, helping the Golden Eagles end the night with six team blocks.
"Offensively, we had a fairly efficient night," head coach Ken Carver noted after his program improved to 5-0 inside Bill George Arena this season. "Our outside hitter tandem of Savanna and Ellie had great nights, and Taylor added another efficient match in the middle. Lauren and Morgan ran an efficient offense that did a great job involving all of our attackers in the match."
Senior Lauren Cloud passed the 30-assist mark for the third time this season with 31, while senior Morgan Fincham passed the 1,500-assist mark for her career with a 25-helper effort as the tandem had the Golden Eagle offense hitting at .264 (67-21-174) on the night.
Sophomore Taylor Golmen hit .471, accumulating 10 kills on 17 swings and recorded four of JBU's 12 aces. She also added three blocks, as did junior Micah Fouts. Senior Ellie Lampton produced double-digit terminations for the first time in six matches, finishing with 11 kills on 35 swings.
In the back row, senior Jillian Blackman led the way with 20 scoops, recording her eighth 20-dig effort of the season. Sophomore Julie Milligan notched her sixth-consecutive match with double-digit digs with 14.
Southwestern Christian's (6-14, 1-11) only response was Siloam Springs product Makenna Thomas, who smacked 18 terminations on 38 swings (.474) without making an error. Paige McGee added 10 kills, but the visitors manufactured 23 fewer kills than their counterparts. Faith DeSouza had 34 assists, and Treasure Mozon patrolled the back row to the tune of a game-high 25 digs.
Both teams hit over .300 in the fourth, but the Golden Eagles limited the visitors to a mere .000 (6-6-31) in the second set en route to the season sweep of Southwestern Christian.
"It was great being back home in the friendly confines of Bill George Arena," added Carver. "While it took us a bit of time to settle into a serving rhythm and reign in our aggressiveness, I'm proud of everyone on the team and how they stayed engaged and encouraged one another throughout the night. This week and next week are challenging weeks academically for our student-athletes, but I'm proud of our players' focus on and off the court to pursue excellence, be present where their feet are and give their best effort."
John Brown will return to action on Friday night (Oct. 7) when it hosts Oklahoma City at 7 p.m. inside Bill George Arena. JBU will look to even the season series at one apiece with the Stars sweeping the Golden Eagles in the first round of conference play at Abe Lemons Arena. The match will be broadcast live on the SAC Sports Network.
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