SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- A strong collective effort led by freshman Kate Carlson's 14 kills and a season-best 27 assists from freshman Tessa Burton led the John Brown University volleyball team to a come-from-behind five-set victory (25-23, 20-25, 23-25, 25-14, 16-14) inside Bill George Arena on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 6) to close out the opening weekend of Sooner Athletic play.
The Golden Eagles (5-5, 1-1 Sooner Athletic) improved to 14-1 all-time against Panhandle State, including a perfect 8-0 mark in Siloam Springs. The Blue and Gold also moved to 2-0 this season in five-set outings.
OPSU (2-7, 0-2) out-hit John Brown, .172 (58-28-174) to .154 (56-28-182) on the afternoon, but the hosts took advantage of 11 aces – including another three from freshman Paige Addington – and boasted a trio of front-line attackers in double digit kills. Freshmen Clara Hyke and Reese Montgomery each contributed a dozen terminations, joining Carlson, with Hyke's effort setting a new personal best mark.
Montgomery made her presence known in the middle, adding a career-high six block assists to her 12 kills, while junior Akayla Kador added another four.
In the back row, both Addington and sophomore Mallory Jury racked up career highs, posting 21 and 20 digs, respectively.
After a back-and-forth first set featured 11 ties and six lead changes, and ultimately a JBU win, the visiting Aggies took command of the match with consecutive set victories, hitting .274 over the second and third frames to close within its first-ever win at Bill George Arena.
Momentum changed in the fourth set, however, where the Golden Eagles hit a match-best .344 (15-4-32) and used 7-0 and 7-1 runs to run away with the fourth and knot the match at two apiece.
Then, the largest hurdle the Blue and Gold faced, 12-7 and 14-11 holes late in the fifth set.
A pair of Carlson terminations pulled John Brown back within 12-10, and facing match point, the blocking and terminating stepped up. Montgomery and Carlson combined on the first block, and aided by an OPSU attack error, JBU closed within one, 14-13. Out of an Aggie timeout, Carlson terminated and another Montgomery-Carlson rejection handed John Brown the lead and prompted Panhandle State's final timeout.
Freshman Taylor Kosmicki ended the 2:12 affair by launching a service ace to complete the comeback.
"What an exciting, back-and-forth match today," admitted head coach Ken Carver. "I'm so proud of our players and their grit, determination and perseverance in playing out every point even when their backs were against the wall. Our team responded with its best offensive effort in the fourth set, giving us the chance to finish strong. We weren't done yet and we closed it out with freshmen delivering key kills, blocks and a service ace.
"The growth and learning from last night's loss to Wayland to today's match — where we kept battling, believing and not bending — was awesome to see. Clara, Kate and Reese were a freshmen trio leading the offense, while Paige, Mallory and Mia anchored us with strong serve receive and back-row defense. Their consistency allowed our setters to move the ball around and kept rallies alive through scrappy play while Tessa contributed one of the best matches of her career. All in all, it was a total team effort to earn this win and secure the conference split we needed this weekend."
The Golden Eagles will continue Sooner Athletic play on Friday night (Sept. 12) when John Brown visits Central Christian (Kan.) for a 6 p.m. start time. The match will be multicast live to the SAC Sports Network and the Urban Edge Network.
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