JBU women bounce back to defeat William Woods
The No. 14 John Brown University women’s soccer team simultaneously ended a two-match skid and set a season-high goal total in an 8-0 rout of William Woods (Mo.) on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 24) at Alumni Field.
Junior Lauren Walter and sophomore Pam Seiler each produced five points (2 goals, 1 assist) and two Golden Eagles tallied their first collegiate goals as John Brown (4-3-0) posted a lopsided shot chart (31-3).
Sophomore Renny Buchanan’s cornerkick began the scoring for John Brown just 39 seconds into the contest and John Brown never looked back as a 4-0 lead at the intermission was doubled in the second half.
Freshman Karen Flores unleashed a gorgeous 16-yard strike off the crossbar and past keeper Michyla Handley in the 35th minute, and sophomore Elise Bosma tallied the second goal in the latter period, finishing off a pass from Walter to the right side of goal, cementing the duo’s first collegiate goals.
Walter scored once in each half, and Seiler scored the game’s seventh and eighth goals in her return from injury as the Golden Eagle offense forced Handley and the backup keeper to come up with 14 saves on the afternoon.
In the 30th minute, sophomore Kaelyn Mole netted her second of the second on a one-touch shot after Seiler shed a pair of Owls in a cheeky play to the middle before laying off a pass through the box on the floor to Mole in a beautiful setup.
Senior Chloe Griffin improved to 4-2-0 on the season and made a save before splitting the combined clean sheet with junior Emily Dobbins, who enter the match with 14 minutes remaining. Dobbins made one save as well.
The Golden Eagles will now embark on a three-match road trip to open conference play, beginning on Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 28) at Oklahoma Panhandle State. The match at Anchor D Stadium at Carl Wooten Field is scheduled for a 5 p.m. kick off.
Kat Smith was the lone player on the afternoon in double-digit kill territory with 10, while Soleil Trejo scooped up 18 balls in the backcourt in the Drover loss.
John Brown now travels on a consequential road trip to face the Sooner Athletic Conference’s perennial powers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The Golden Eagles will take on No. 10 Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) on Friday evening (Sept. 30) in Waxahachie before facing Texas Wesleyan in Fort Worth at 1 p.m. Saturday.
JBU 3, MACU 0
Three Golden Eagles provided double-double efforts, and the John Brown University volleyball team got to work defensively, posting a season-high 107 digs in a four-set victory (25-15, 1725, 25-19, 25-11) over MidAmerica Christian (Okla.) on Thursday night (Sept. 22) inside Bill George Arena.
After a strong first set in which junior Savanna Riney produced five of her gamehigh 13 terminations, the visiting Evangels (10-7, 4-4 Sooner Athletic) squared the match at one apiece with a .255 attacking effort in the second set. John Brown absorbed the setback and responded with two frames that saw the hosts hit .241 (26-6-83) in commanding fashion to improve to 3-0 in Siloam Springs this season.
“It was good to be back home in the friendly and loud confines of Bill George arena once again,” head coach Ken Carver said. “I was proud of our team’s effort and performance, and I thought our team did a good job of starting the match off strong and playing a really good first set.
“In the third set, we got back to where our focus and execution needed to be and the fourth set we stepped on the gas and closed the game well.”
Senior Ellie Lampton (4 kills) and sophomore Callie Mullins (4 kills) carried the offensive workload in the third set, and seven Golden Eagles recorded terminations in the fourth, paced by four from Riney.
John Brown boasted a quartet of attackers that hit over .250, paced by Riney’s 13 kills on 41 swings (.268), followed by Mullins at .292 and her 10 kills. Sophomore Taylor Golmen was especially efficient, swatting eight kills on 23 attempts (.304) and junior Micah Fouts contributed an error-free night with six kills on 23 chances (.261).
Defensively the hosts dug 107 of MACU’s 190 total attempts, limiting the visitors to a .111 total (44-23-190). Senior Jillian Blackman (34) eclipsed 30 scoops for the second time this season, while sophomore Julie Milligan produced a career-high 21 digs. Riney completed her double-double with 10 digs, and in the front row, Golmen and Fouts posted three block-assists each.
Both John Brown setters earned double-doubles, including senior Lauren Cloud’s mark of 24 assists and 14 digs. Senior Morgan Fincham added 18 helpers and 15 scoops.
Cloie Mitchell led MACU with 10 kills, and Casady McKinney passed out 18 assists. Lena Stockhammer and Sarah Jones each threw up four blocks while Marlee Hunter absorbed 28 digs in the back row.