Box Score
Despite struggling to begin the match, the Bruins found their rhythm as they defeated the Hiwassee College Lions in straight sets 3-0 on Tuesday afternoon. With the win, the Bruins move to 2-2 on the season.  

"I put before the team that this was a game that we should win if we played up to our potential," Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "We needed to have good serve-receive and take advantage of the smaller blockers up front. We passed better and got better hits on the ball and really started to play our game." 

The Bruins and Tigers were excited to take the court as the fans in the Davis Field House were ready for the next chapter in the Bruins inaugural season. The two teams traded points early on as each were trying to establish rhythm and momentum. The Bruins got several kills from Kirstin Christmas and Erin Jarvis as they clung to a slim lead. They couldn't seem to pull away from the Lions as the team committed several serving and receiving errors throughout the set which allowed Hiwassee to keep the score close. Still, the Bruins were able to string together solid play to close out the set 25-23. 

"We were just encouraging each other," Freshman Emily Wynn said. "We knew we needed to just keep pushing. We know if we don't encourage each other then we all fall apart." 

In the second set, the Bruins came out strong with several kills from Christmas to jump out to an 8-4 advantage. They continued to ride their momentum as Rachel Tubbs continued to setup her teammates for kills. The Bruins ran away with the second set as they won 25-11. 

The final set was much of the same for the team as they jumped out again to an early lead. The Bruins were able to capitalize on a strong serve and receive flow which allowed them to seamlessly transition back and forth for points. After building a large lead, the Bruins never looked back as they won the final set 25-13. 

Rachel Tubbs led the Bruins with 21 assists in the match while Erin Jarvis had 7 kills and Kendra Jeffcott, Kirstin Christmas and Saleena Walker each had 6. The team will play in the NCCAA DII South Region Kickoff tournament this upcoming weekend in New Port Richey, Florida. The Bruins will face several region opponents throughout the weekend.  

"We need to limit our errors because we're beating ourselves at times," Coach Denny said. "This upcoming weekend will be a good test for us to see if we can eliminate our errors, play good volleyball and see where we rank among the regional teams." 

Next up, the Bruins will battle Pensacola Christian College on Friday morning.