Golden Eagles take care of Mid-America Christian in four
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- After dropping the first set, the John Brown University volleyball team rattled off three-straight wins, claiming a 3-1 victory (17-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-18) over Mid-America Christian (Okla.) on Friday (Sept. 16) evening, keeping its Sooner Athletic record perfect on the season.
After dropping a first set in which the Golden Eagles (11-4, 3-0 SAC) hit just .171 percent, JBU rebounded to attack at a .274 percent clip for the remainder of the contest, holding seven-point leads in each of the final three sets.
Freshman Carly McKinney paced the JBU offense with a 12-kill, nine-dig and four-ace performance, hitting .294 percent (12-2-34) on the evening. Freshman Megan Beck added nine kills while while freshman Jessica Meyer, sophomore Kennedy Shelstead and senior Molli Pugh each added eight terminations in the win.
Meyer was all over the front line, throwing up 10 block-assists, easily setting a personal single-match record.
Defensively, junior Beth Brankle again led the effort with her 12th double-digit dig performance, posting a team-leading 12. She has now dug over 10 opponent attacks in each of her last six outings. McKinney was one dig shy of the double-double, adding nine digs while junior Alyssa Arnold also added nine to accompany 20 assists, also just shy of a double-double. Freshman Elizabeth Williams matched Arnold with 20 helpers, leading John Brown to 47 of its 50 kills with an assist.
Behind by just one point in the first set, 17-16, Mid-America Christian (6-4, 0-3 SAC) rattled off a 7-1 run to pull away. In the latter three sets, however, it would be the visitors to piece together timely rallies.
In stanza two, a 7-1 run, powered by three Beck terminations, broke open a narrow 4-3 advantage. The third set down 10-9, JBU broke on an 11-1 tear that was initiated by a Meyer kill, followed by a block from Meyer and Beck. Five MACU errors fueld the massive Golden Eagle rally.
John Brown used a 9-3 run early in the fourth to quickly put the match out of reach for the Evangels. Armed with an 8-5 lead, sophomore Kennedy Shelstead, junior Bailei Brown and McKinney each provided early terminations in the match-closing frame.
The win snaps JBU's two-match losing skid. The Golden Eagles will turn around to face conference foe Oklahoma City tomorrow (Sept. 17) at 1 p.m.
