Volleyball picks up nonconference win

“We knew we were going to see all kinds of shots from Philander Smith and our defense was disciplined and patient in our reads and then worked hard to allow our team to get the play back into the rhythm and tempo we like to play at.” — Ken Carver, head coach, John Brown University volleyball team

LITTLE ROCK — Never trailing, the John Brown University volleyball team captured its fourth straight victory with a sweep (2513, 25-15, 25-17) of Philander Smith on March 24 inside Mims Gymnasium.

Improving to 3-0 in nonconference play, the Golden Eagles (9-2) received a pair of 10-kill efforts from freshmen Micah Fouts and Savanna Riney and a service effort that saw the visitors launch 11 aces — including five from junior Jenna Lowery — and hit .270 (49-18-115) against an opponent that wasn’t able to muster up a sustained attack.

The Panthers (9-10) had their three-match winning streak stunted, and were held a mere .117 (20-11-77) clip in just their fourth three-set sweep of the season.

Fouts hit .500 (10-1-18) and added four block-assists to lead the front-line defense. Freshman Delaney Barnes added a trio of block-assists to six kills (.214). Sophomore Jillian Blackman was relegated to just 13 digs in the wins as the Panthers spent most of the evening volleying freeballs over the net to keep up with the Golden Eagle offensive pressure.

Sophomore Lauren Cloud passed out 22 assists, hitting the 20 mark for the sixth time this season, while sophomore Morgan Fincham dished out 13 and added a pair of kills into the mix. Junior Carrie Ciesla took over in the third and secured five assists.

“I’m proud of our performance this evening in closing out our final regular season road match with a straight-sets sweep,” said head coach Ken Carver. “We were very efficient tonight as Morgan and Lauren did a great job of running a balanced offense and our attackers did a good job in finishing their swings for points. Additionally, we had another strong performance from the service line, both in earning points from aces, but consistently hitting the zones I was calling in order to keep Philander Smith out of system for most of the match.

“Finally, I was really proud of our hustle and defensive effort. We knew we were going to see all kinds of shots from Philander Smith and our defense was disciplined and patient in our reads and then worked hard to allow our team to get the play back into the rhythm and tempo we like to play at. We’ll be looking forward to our off weekend to get some much needed rest and then look to finish off our season with three home matches before heading into the SAC tournament.”

Lowery served John Brown on a 9-0 run in the first, breaking open a narrow 7-5 visitors lead. JBU received kills from four different attackers and enjoyed a pair of Lowery aces during the run. Up 18-5, JBU allowed the hosts to slowly edge back into the contest, but a kill from Fouts and a Fouts-Barnes block ended the first set abruptly for a 1-0 lead.

The second set saw the match’s only tie, 1-1, until Riney and Barnes each swatted a pair of kills to send John Brown on an 8-2 run. Three terminations from sophomore Sarah Laaker underpinned another late

8-0 John Brown run, opening up another 18-5 advantage. Like the first, Philander found some late-set momentum, but a Lampton kill at 20-15 ended the run and set off a 6-0 John Brown streak to claim a 2-0 lead in the match. Fouts and Barnes combined on a pair of rejects during the final rally.

The third set was much closer in the beginning, but a 7-2 run — started by a Fouts kill and a Cloud ace, fueled the visitors to a 10-point lead, 20-10. The margin stayed at 10 until a brief Panther 4-0 run was thwarted by Riney’s 10th kill of the match and a surprise Blackman termination to end the contest.

Philander Smith’s top attacker, Nyla Lloyd, posted six kills in the match. Jakayla Shrum passed out 17 assists while Lloyd racked up four blocks — a pair of the solo variety.

JBU will now rest for six days and host Philander Smith at Bill George Arena this Tuesday evening in the back end of the home-andhome interstate series.