The Bob Jones University Bruins secured a key South Region win Friday evening defeating Trinity College 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-10) in Jacksonville, Florida.  The match was a region make-up showdown from a postponed weekend tournament in September because of Hurricane Irma.

"It was a great team effort tonight," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "It was a good opportunity for us to get the freshman some solid playing time and they didn't disappoint." 

The Bruins began the first set slowly falling behind 5-2.  A 4-0 run fueled by two aces by Saleena Walker gave the Bruins a 6-5 lead. The two squads traded points in pairs until a 12-12 tie. A block by Katherine Ring and two kills by Erin Jarvis put the Bruins up 15-12. The teams would then swap points until 16-14.  Another 4-0 run capitalizing on Trinity mistakes gave the Lady Bruins a commanding 20-14 lead. The Bruins would be led by both a Rachel Tubbs and Lauren Gaston kills combined with Trinity hitting errors to capture the first set 25-17.

In the second set, the Bruins had another slow start as the Tigers rattled off three consecutive aces to jump out to a 3-0 lead. However, the Bruins battled back by going on an 11-1 run to take a dominating 11-4 lead. Tubbs, Gaston, and Marjorie Elliot all had key kills during the stretch and the Bruins defense shined forcing Trinity to scramble and commit hitting errors. Although the Tigers would rally, the Bruins stretched their lead behind the serving of Brittany Annand to go up 21-8. The Bruins would go on to take the set 25-12 as they led the match 2-0. 

With the sweep in sight, the Bruins came out on fire jumping out to a 6-0 lead behind the strong serving of Annand. Gaston, Ring, and Tubbs would record several kills over the next several points leading the Bruins to a solid 16-5 lead. The Lady Bruins kept their opponents scrambling all over the court securing a 19-7 advantage forcing Trinity College to burn their final timeout. The Tigers were able to break the Bruins serve, but BJU responded immediately as they forced the Tiger into several hitting errors due to the wall of blocks by Tubbs, Ring, and Gaston at the net. The Bruins never looked back as they closed out the third set 25-10 to win the match 3-0. 

Laura Gaston led the Bruins with 7 kills, 5 solo blocks and 2 aces on the night. With the win, the Bruins improve to 14-12 on the season and 4-1 in region play. Next up, the Lady Bruins will continue their Florida road trip tomorrow facing off against Trinity Baptist College at noon followed by Johnson University of Florida at 2:00 p.m. Both matches have NCCAA South Region standing implications heading into the final week of the regular season.