SILOAM SPRINGS -- The Golden Eagle Invitational made its first appearance since the 2012 season, where the John Brown University volleyball squad posted a 2-1 record this past weekend (Aug. 18-19) by claiming wins over Texas A&M-Texarkana and Bethel (Kan.) before dropping a straight-sets decision to Oklahoma Wesleyan inside Bill George Arena.
"It was great to open up the season with a home invitational for the first time in 10 years," noted head coach Ken Carver. "The teams who came to participate made the tournament a very competitive weekend and a good start to the season.
"While we have a lot of returning players on this year's roster, a number of them are stepping into new or elevated roles for our team along with four very talented freshmen. While we had high expectations for our opening weekend, the predominant focus was one of wanting to grow and learn with each successive match. With that as the main criteria, I felt our team did an outstanding job this weekend."
In the Golden Eagles' first outing of the season on Friday afternoon, a pair of narrow victories finally gave way to a third-set rout as the hosts swept past Texarkana, 25-22, 25-22, 25-13.
Senior Savanna Riney led the charge with eight kills, while junior Erin Mullins added seven as the Golden Eagles began to find its offensive footing with a .204 attack efficiency.
Saturday morning, John Brown began its doubleheader with a matchup versus Bethel, where JBU hit .351 in the second set and used 14 Riney terminations to sweep the Threshers, 25-22, 25-19, 25-20.
Senior Morgan Fincham and sophomore Emma DeSanti each passed out 14 assists apiece, while DeSanti served up a career-high four aces in the straight-sets win.
"[Against Bethel], the second set in which we had 18 kills and hit .351 was our best performance of the weekend and was a good demonstration of what our team's offensive capabilities are when we are playing in-system," added Carver. "The big take away in this particular match was how well our team closed out each set with important runs of points to earn our second sweep of the early season."
In the final matchup of the weekend, John Brown suffered its first loss by a 3-0 margin to Oklahoma Wesleyan, 18-25, 17-25, 13-25. After a strong first set attacking at .241, the Golden Eagles finished the match at .059, while the visiting Eagles hit .250 (46-17-116) on the afternoon.
The Golden Eagles return to action on Friday (Aug. 25) when JBU travels to Columbia, Mo. to compete in the 2023 Hampton Inn Classic, hosted by Columbia. John Brown takes on William Penn (Iowa) and Xavier (La.) on Friday before taking on a couple of ranked opponents – No. 22 Ottawa (Kan.) and No. 14 Columbia – on Saturday.
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). Catch every Golden Eagle home game and select away games on the SAC Sports Network, available online or for download on your favorite streaming device.
