Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
The Lady Bruins continued their success away from the Davis Field House on their current road trip as they swept Trinity Baptist College and Johnson University of Florida in Jacksonville, Florida Saturday afternoon. The victory marked four matches won in the last three days as the team improves to 16-12 on the season and 6-1 in region play.
"We started out with a goal to win all four matches in this tough span, and we accomplished it," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said.
In the first match of the day, the Bruins took the court against the Eagles of Trinity Baptist College. It was senior day for TBC and the fans were hoping to send their seniors out with a win.
The Bruins jumped out to a 7-2 advantage fueled by two kills by Rachel Tubbs and a massive block by Katherine Ring. The two teams would trade points until the 12-8 mark when the Lady Bruins took control of the set with a 9-1 run to make the score 21-9. Again, the tandem of Tubbs and Ring controlling the net combined with strong defensive play by the back row contributed to the run. The Eagles would try to claw back into the set; however, two service aces by Tubbs would close out set one 25-13.
The Lady Bruins wasted no time in the second set showing their muscles as they won 13 of the first 14 points to go up 13-1. The combination of Erin Jarvis, Laura Gaston, Rachel Tubbs, and Katherine Ring was just too much for the Eagles to handle. After a net violation by the Bruins, they would capture five of the next six points to take a comfortable 18-3 lead. Kills by Ring, Gaston, and Isabel Vosburgh helped the Lady Bruins finish out the second set 25-13.
The Eagles would not go down without a fight as they opened the third set with a 12-6 advantage forcing the Lady Bruins to scramble as they tried to find their rhythm. Ring would step up for the Bruins with three kills and a block to cut the deficit to three at 12-15. A couple of kills by Gaston along with one from Vosburgh and a block from Ring closed the gap to 18-19. The Eagles secured the next point to go back up by two and force Coach Denny to call a timeout. Jarvis and Ring would both record kills sandwiched around a Saleena Walker ace and two more kills by Gaston would give the Lady Bruins a 24-21 lead. The Eagles would pull to 24-23; however, a long rally concluded by another Gaston kill would secure the Lady Bruins victory 25-23 as they won the match 3-0.
In the second match of the day, the Bruins would battle the Suns of Johnson University of Florida. The Suns took advantage of early Bruins mistakes to jump out to a 3-2 lead. A 7-1 spurt capitalizing on the Suns mistakes jumped the Lady Bruins back up to a 9-4 lead. The Suns would battle back to close the gap to 12-11. The Bruins would regroup and go on a 10-2 run for a commanding 22-13 lead. After a miss serve, the Bruins would close out with the last three points to take set one 25-14.
Like they had done all weekend, the Bruins jumped out to an early lead in the second set with a 5-0 lead. The Suns battled back to make the score 7-5; however, a kill by Tubbs would send the Lady Bruins on another 11-1 run to go up 18-6. Ring and Tubbs would each pick up two more kills as the Bruins rolled to a 25-10 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Suns clawed their way to an early 5-1 lead in the third set as they tried to avoid the sweep. The Bruins defense was stellar through the next part of the set forcing the Suns into six hitting errors. The errors combined with Lauren Gaston's three kills and block helped the team regain the lead 15-9. The teams would trade points until the score was 17-14. The Bruins defense, led by Saleena Walker and Lauren Johnson, continued to force the Suns to scramble on offense and commit several hitting errors. The Bruins closed out the third set 8-6 highlighted by a massive block by Laura Gaston for point 24 and a beautiful tip for number 25 as the Bruins completed the sweep 3-0.
Laura Gaston celebrated her birthday in style as the sophomore led the team on the day with 22 kills to go along with 4 blocks. Katherine Ring had 10 kills on the day and 4 blocks. With the win, the Bruins have now won four straight and sit at 16-12 on the season. Next up, the Bruins will be on the road Tuesday night as they battle Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
