The Bob Jones University Bruins volleyball team won one and lost one in Thursday's doubleheader against Truett McConnell University and Montreat College. "Overall I'm very pleased," coach Vickie Denny said. "It was a definite confidence builder so hopefully we can continue that in our next match."

In the first match of the night the Bruins faced the Truett McConnell University Bears beating them in five sets (25-13, 25-18, 25-17, 25-21, 15-12).

In the first set against the Bears, the Bruins got off to a slow start falling behind 1-4. The energy was high, but despite the Bruins positive efforts they were picked apart by the Bears as they couldn't string points together for a run. Later in the set the Bears gained their largest lead as they were up 10-20. After a couple more serves the Bears took the win 25-13.

The second set started in a similar way with the Bruins down early 5-2. But Saleena Walker had a back row hit to help the team battle back to tie the set 8-8. Lauren Johnson provided a spark for the team as she served six points in a row to take the lead. The Bears continued to struggle returning the ball over the net as Rachel Tubbs served four points in a row bringing the Bruins to a 9 point lead. The Bruins let the Bears have a couple more points, as they volleyed it out, but Kendra Jeffcott had clean kill for the final point as the Bruins won set two 25-18.

The third set stayed pretty even in the beginning with neither team pulling ahead by a large margin. The Bruins covered their court well and had some long volleys, but the Bears started to pull ahead soon gaining a six-point lead which later stretch to eight points. The Bruins were sticking in the game, but it seemed the Bears were wearing them down as the team lost the third set 25-17.

"When we started falling behind I told the girls that we have to want it more than they do," Bruins captain Rachel Tubbs said. "It's about mental endurance in taking it one set at a time and keep working."

Set four started out with the Bruins down 4-1 once again, but Jeffcott played smart in her attacks tipping to the holes and hitting hard. A few plays later, Amber Smith had a rare back row kill and the Bruins took a two-point advantage 9-7. Then the Bruins kicked it into overdrive as Lauren Johnson served five points in a row and Kirsten Christmas got 3 kills. The Bruins were dominating on offense and defense and although the Bears were determined to fight back, the Bruins came out victorious 25-21. The match was tied at 2-2.

The fifth set started rough with the Bruins down 7-3. They couldn't return any of the Bears serves, but Emily Wynn served four in a row to tie the game up. The Bruins refused to lose as Saleena Walker served five in a row to bring the Bruins up 14-12. The Bruins completed the comeback with a dramatic last volley as they put away the fifth set to win the match 15-12.

"This was our first five game match that we've actually won," coach Denny said. "That's a huge accomplishment for us."

The second match of the night didn't go as well for the Bruins as they lost in three sets to Montreat College (21-25, 17-25, 16-25).

In the first set, the Bruins came out with a solid start using the momentum from their first win. But then the team struggled to return the strong serves by the Cavaliers as Montreat built a 11-6 lead. The Bruins inconsistency cost them as they lost the first set 25-21.

The Bruins jumped out to an early lead in the second set, but then the Cavaliers came back to tie it up. The Cavaliers continued to ride their serving attack as they put together a strong offensive run to go up 18-11 and eventually win the set 25-17.

In set three, the Bruins again started off in the lead, but again the Cavaliers hard serving and dominating blocks soon put them ahead 17-9. Though the Bruins fought and Jarvis got a string of three service points at the end, it wasn't enough as the Bruins fell to the Cavaliers in the third set 25-16 and the match 3-0.

"They served really tough and tore our passing pattern apart," coach Denny said. "It was a great game for them."

With today's 1-1 split, the Bruins improve to 15-8 on the season. Coach Vickie Denny won her 998th career victory and is now just two shy of her 1,000th win. Next up, the Bruins will be on the road tomorrow as the team will play Piedmont International University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.