Pugh's 14 kills powers Golden Eagles to sweep of Crowley's Ridge
SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Senior Molli Pughposted a match-high 14 terminations and the John Brown University volleyball team held Crowley's Ridge (Ark.) to a mere .017 attack percentage, leading the Golden Eagles to its fourth-consecutive sweep (25-16, 25-2, 26-24) inside Bill George Arena on Tuesday (Sept. 20) night.
The Golden Eagles have not dropped a set in matches against Williams Baptist (Ark.), Science & Arts (Okla.), Bacone (Okla.) and now Crowley's Ridge. JBU will look to have a tougher outing on Friday (Sept. 23) when it welcomes Texas Wesleyan (15-2) to Bill George Arena for a 7 p.m. first serve.
"Tonight's win was a good start to our competitive week and a good opportunity to bounce back after a pretty rough setback against OCU this past Saturday," head coach Ken Carveradmitted. "It was also an opportunity for our team to have some of our role players see time on the floor in a competitive situation. While I would have liked to see a better start in sets one and three, I did like the fact that regardless of who we had out on the floor, the team didn't get rattled. Crowley's Ridge is a scrappy little team and they showed they were more than capable of pushing our team if we allowed them an opening.
Pugh hit a .333 attack rate to lead John Brown (12-5) while freshman Megan Beck added seven kills. Freshman Jessica Meyer continued her individual block party, posting two solo rejections and four block-assists.
Crowley's Ridge (6-6) received 12 kills from Emily Poyner and 21 digs from Brittany Brown in the loss.
The Golden Eagles blew open a narrow 11-10 advantage in the first when Beck's kill started a 5-0 to create separation. Meyer again figured into the mix late, posting a kill and a block, helping the hosts finish out the set on a 4-0 run.
In the third set, JBU overcame a 24-20 deficit, finishing the match on a 6-0 run, fueled by a Carly McKinney service ace and a match-sealing Meyer solo block. The deficit wasn't the smallest of the stanza as CRC built a 13-4 lead until the Golden Eagles roared back on a 10-1 rally, knotting the score at 17 apiece.
The second set was run-away fashion as an 11-0 JBU rally broke open a 5-5 tie. John Brown hit .400 percent in the second set en route to finishing with a .208 percent clip on the evening.
McKinney added six kills, zero attack errors and 11 digs. Sophomore Brittany Ayers also contributed four kills without committing a miscue. Between Pugh, McKinney, Beck and Ayers, the Golden Eagles received 31 of its 24 kills on only three attack errors on a .357 percent attacking clip.
Freshman Elizabeth Williams dished out a game-high 19 assists while junior Beth Brankleanchored the back line with 19 digs, while chipping in three service aces.
