SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- The John Brown University volleyball squad picked up three wins in four chances as the Golden Eagles defeated Southwestern (Kan.), Paul Quinn (Texas) and Philander Smith (Ark.) at the 2025 Golden Eagle Invitational this past weekend (Aug. 22-23) inside Bill George Arena.
Despite the one setback to Texas A&M – Texarkana, the Blue and Gold (3-1) managed to hit over .220 in half of its matches.
"It was great to start our season off at home and with the excitement of a new season coupled with the energy of parents, family members and students in the stands cheering helped to propel our team to a successful opening weekend," noted head coach Ken Carver. "I'm really proud of our players and how they played throughout the entirety of the tournament. Our six new players stepped onto the court and played very well without showing any nerves or fear of playing in their first-ever college matches. Our entire group of players have bonded quickly over the course of our preseason training camp and at this early stage of the season has some of the strongest chemistry and sense of team culture of any team I've been able to coach."
In the first 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23) win over Paul Quinn, John Brown hit a tournament-high .281 (67-22-160), paced by senior Emma-Kate Schaefer's 16 kills and another 15 from freshman Reese Montgomery in her collegiate debut. Freshman Kate Carlson also chipped in with 10 spikes and four aces in her first action at the college level.
Freshman Taylor Kosmicki and sophomore Tessa Burton shared the setting duties and racked up 29 and 26 helpers, respectively. Sophomore Mallory Jury led the back line with 16 digs, and freshman Paige Addington contributed 15 in her collegiate debut.
Closing out the action of the first day, the Golden Eagles ran into a strong Texas A&M – Texarkana squad, with the hosts falling in straight sets (17-25, 18-25, 20-25).
Opening Saturday, JBU faced Southwestern (Kan.) and showed resilience after taking a 2-1 lead and dropping the fourth set. The tournament hosts responded with a narrow two-point margin in the fifth to close the match (15-25, 25-10, 25-18, 19-25, 17-15).
Carlson responded with her second double-digit termination effort of the weekend, pacing the offense with 15 kills – as did Schaefer. Kosmicki posted a career-high 32 assists in her young career to accompany four aces. Junior Mia Baedke scooped up 23 in the back row in the libero role.
The weekend ended with a commanding sweep (25-16, 25-19, 25-15) of Philander Smith, but this time freshman Clara Hyke's nine kills topped the JBU offensive leaderboard.
The JBU defense held the Panthers to .100 attack percentage or below the entire match, marking the first Blue and Gold sweep of the season.
"With a smaller roster this year, it's an all hands on deck situation where everyone is needed and everyone's role is important. The stress-level to perform could be elevated but given the personalities of our team and what they've chosen to focus on, I think it is empowering and energizing to rise to the occasion. There is still a lot of learning and growth to take place with this team but the ceiling is incredibly high and this weekend was just an initial glimpse into what I hope will be a lot more success as the season progresses. Emma-Kate Schaefer, as one of our senior players, has really stepped up her game, Reese Montgomery had an outstanding first weekend offensively, Clara Hyke, Akayla Kador and Federica Ferrari did a great job of bouncing back and forth between positions, and Kate Carlson brought a booming jump top-spin serve which put a lot of pressure on our opponents."
John Brown returns to tournament play on Friday (Aug. 29) morning as the Golden Eagles travel to Marshall, Mo. to face Columbia (Mo.) and Grand View (Iowa) on the first day of the Missouri Valley College Invitational. JBU then takes on William Woods (Mo.) and Stephens (Mo.) the following day of action.
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