OKLAHOMA CITY -- Sophomore Kate Carlson put away a team-high 13 kills, but Oklahoma City hit .343 across three sets to hand the John Brown University volleyball team a straight-sets defeat (21-25, 19-25, 20-25) Saturday afternoon (Oct. 10) inside Abe Lemons Arena.
John Brown fell to 13-9 overall and 9-5 in Sooner Athletic play, while Oklahoma City improved to 15-5 and matched the Golden Eagles at 9-5 in conference action.
The Stars committed only 11 attacking errors on 105 attempts, finishing with 47 kills and a .343 hitting percentage compared with JBU's .198 effort (40-16-121). Oklahoma City also finished with advantages in digs (58-42) and total blocks (5-2). JBU landed three aces to the Stars' two, but committed 10 service errors over the three frames.
Carlson hit .265 (13-4-34) to lead the Golden Eagle attack, while junior Federica Ferrari turned in JBU's most efficient performance with seven kills and no errors on 16 swings for a .438 clip. Sophomore Clara Hyke added six terminations on .455 hitting (6-1-11) in two sets.
Junior Tessa Medina distributed 23 assists and added an ace, sophomore Taylor Kosmicki finished with 11 helpers and seven digs, and sophomore Paige Addington paced the back row with a match-high 19 digs.
Oklahoma City's Kacie Townsend led all attackers with 14 kills, while Amber Jones finished with nine kills on .389 hitting and four total blocks. Erin Mack added eight terminations at a .467 clip. Setter Rylie Steward recorded a double-double with 33 assists and 14 digs while also putting away an errorless four kills.
Set 1: The Stars created the first separation when a three-point stretch turned a 4-3 edge into a 7-3 advantage. John Brown worked back within 10-9, but Oklahoma City continued siding out before producing the decisive run later in the frame.
With OCU leading 14-12, the hosts collected five consecutive points to stretch the margin to 19-12. John Brown stopped the run behind Carlson, who supplied consecutive kills before Addington followed with an ace to trim the deficit to 19-15.
The Stars rebuilt the cushion to 23-16, but JBU continued to push. Freshman Chelsea Day and Ferrari capped a three-point response that made it 23-19, and the Golden Eagles later fought off two set points to pull within 24-21. Bailey Lowder finally terminated the next rally to give Oklahoma City the 25-21 opener.
OCU hit .286 (15-5-35) in the set against JBU's .149 (13-6-47).
Set 2: Oklahoma City carried the momentum directly into the second, scoring the first five points before freshman Whitley Underdown finally sided out for John Brown. The Stars maintained the cushion through 11-6 before the Golden Eagles put together their strongest push of the frame.
Sophomore Olivia Tucker began a four-point run before an OCU attacking error and back-to-back Carlson kills pulled JBU within 11-10. Oklahoma City immediately responded with four unanswered points of its own, however, using two blocks and a Golden Eagle attacking error to rebuild the advantage to 15-10.
JBU later closed within 16-13, but the Stars again answered with four straight, opening a 20-13 margin that proved too much to erase. Hyke supplied three kills down the stretch, but Oklahoma City finished off the 25-19 decision while producing its most efficient offensive set of the afternoon.
The Stars put down 17 kills with only three errors on 33 swings for a .424 hitting percentage in the middle frame. John Brown countered with 14 kills and hit .237 (14-5-38), its best effort of the match.
Set 3: The third developed into the tightest frame of the afternoon, featuring 12 ties and four lead changes. John Brown held early advantages of 5-3 and 8-6 before Oklahoma City pulled even at 8-8, beginning a stretch in which neither side led by more than two through the middle of the set.
A Day termination tied the frame at 15 before senior Akayla Kador followed with a kill for a 16-15 JBU lead. Hyke later put the Golden Eagles back in front 17-16, but the Stars answered with four consecutive points, moving ahead 20-17 on an OCU block.
John Brown made one final charge. Medina put away a kill and Hyke combined with sophomore Reese Montgomery on a block to close the deficit to 20-19, and an Oklahoma City service error later made it 21-20. The Stars closed from there, scoring the final four points of the match, with Townsend delivering consecutive kills to finish the 25-20 decision.
Oklahoma City hit .324 (15-3-37) in the clincher while John Brown finished at .222 (13-5-36).
The Golden Eagles return to Bill George Arena on Friday evening (Oct. 16), opening a two-match home weekend with a 6 p.m. rematch against Texas Wesleyan. Coverage from Siloam Springs will air live on the Urban Edge Network and SAC Sports Network.
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