JBU rolls past Central Christian, Randall
En route to climbing back to .500, the John Brown University volleyball team ran away in sweeping fashion 3-0 (25-12, 25-9, 25-11) over Central Christian (Kan.) on Friday night inside Bill George Arena.
The Golden Eagles (7-7, 6-3 Sooner Athletic) rode 11 team blocks to keep the visiting Tigers (0-12, 0-10) underwater in its attack attempt. CCC hit -.080 (1825-87) on the evening, but John Brown responded with a .329 (32-7-76) attack of its own, marking a season best, making only seven attacking errors in the 56-minute match.
“I was proud of our team’s focus and energy tonight,” head coach Ken Carver said after JBU’s 15th-straight home win. “I’m really pleased with the discipline our front row players had in adjusting their block timing and having a big night at the net stopping CCC’s attack.
“Another focus of our team this week was trying to eliminate the number of unforced errors we commit during the game and I felt we did an excellent job with that priority this evening. We only had seven attacking errors on the night, five serving errors and were perfect in our service reception.”
Powered by junior Elizabeth Williams’ five service aces, John Brown served up nine aces, second-most this season as a team.
Eight players found the termination board, including a team-leading seven kills from sophomore Taylor Glover while juniors Jessica Meyer and Megan Beck each went errorless on the evening, both contributing six kills. Meyer and Beck did the majority of damage at the net on both sides, including three solo blocks and four assists for Meyer while Beck posted two solos and three helpers.
Williams finished with 16 assists while freshman Jenna Lowery contributed 16 scoops and six assists in the win.
The Golden Eagles continued their homestand with a matinee event against Langston (Okla.) on Saturday afternoon. Results were not available at presstime.
JBU 3, Randall (Okla.) 0
Using a balanced attack, after shaking off some early rust, the John Brown University volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-15, 25-10) of Randall (Okla.) on Tuesday (Sept. 26) night inside Bill George Arena
Originally scheduled against Bacone (Okla.), the Warriors were unable to field a volleyball team this season, so Randall (8-10) jumped in at the 11th hour.
“I wanted to express my thanks to coach Mike Freeman and his players for adding us to their schedule to replace one of the matches we lost,” head coach Ken Carver said. “Coach Freeman and I both wanted to provide an additional opportunity for our respective teams to play and learn, so I am very grateful to him and his team for agreeing to come up and play us.”
An 8-0 mid-set rally for the Saints handed the visitors a 13-9 lead in the first, but the Golden Eagles continued to battle.
A trio of terminations from sophomore Taylor Glover and junior Jessica Meyer helped pull the hosts back into the lead, 16-15. The Randall errors began to pile up, adding fuel to the JBU fire, as Bayli Reagan and Megan Beck kills sealed the first set.
“We struggled to find our rhythm until the latter stages of the second set and finally played at our level during the entire third set,” Carver said. “Randall was a very scrappy defensive team and kept a number of harddriven balls in play to deny our team a higher offensive output until the third set.
“Our team also struggled to limit our unforced attacking errors during the first set which caused us to get off to a slow start. By the time the match was over, the majority of our hitters finished with attack efficiencies we would like to see. I felt our defensive effort was there tonight and we were able to handle Randall’s offensive tempo, which is a bit different we are used to playing against.”
The JBU attack efficiency improved as the match continued, and in the second set the hosts began to find its form.
Randall was limited to a .018 attack over the final two sets as John Brown pulled away easily. In the third and final set, Reagan paced the host attack by terminating five attempts as the Golden Eagles peaked by hitting .485 (18-2-33). An early 10-2 lead ballooned into a 17-4 as JBU ran away in the third.
Reagan and Meyer led the Golden Eagles with nine kills each while Reagan added eight and a trio of service aces as John Brown served up eight from the service line.
Junior Elizabeth Williams added a double-double, 17 assists and 10 digs, and got into the offensive action, dumping three kills in the second set.