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The Lady Bruins volleyball team split their two matches on Friday as the team fell to St. Clair Country Community College 3-2 and defeated Lansing Community College 3-1 in Hickory, North Carolina.
"We fought hard today," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "We played two solid teams and played tenaciously. After losing a close match, I was proud of the way the team fought back to win the second match of the day. It's been a while since our last win so this one was extra special."
The Bruins began the day as they took the court against the Skippers of St. Clair County Community College. The Bruins had some great offensive play in the opening set as Erin Jarvis and Laura Gaston supplied kills early on to give the Bruins the lead. The Skippers came right back with kills of their own as the two teams remained close. The Bruins were able to close out the first set strong as they took the 25-22 win.
With momentum on their side, the Bruins looked to keep it going in set two. The Skippers had another idea as they came out strong and built an early lead. Despite kills from Rachel Tubbs the Bruins couldn't seem to catch the Skippers as St. Clair won the second set 25-17.
In the third set, the Skippers again jumped out to an early lead behind smart play to take advantage of gaps in the Bruins defense. The Bruins weren't ready to call it quits as they again got some great offensive play from Tubbs, Jarvis and Gaston as the trio played well at the net. This set, it was the Bruins who were able to close out well as they bounced back to take set three 25-17 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
With the win on the line, the Bruins looked to close out the Skippers but SCCC wasn't ready to throw in the towel that easily as the two teams battled evenly down the stretch. The Skippers tied the match and then used their momentum to steal the set as they rallied to defeat the Bruins 27-25 and force a decisive fifth set.
After an emotional set, both teams knew that it all came down to who could reach 15 first. As the final set played out, both teams battled back and forth as the set neared its end. The Skippers were able to take a slim lead and the Bruins couldn't close the gap as SCCC closed out the set to win 16-14 and the match 3-2.
Rachel Tubbs led the Bruins with 15 kills in the match while Erin Jarvis and Laura Gaston finished with 11 each. Saleena Walker played strong defensively with 39 digs while Lauren Mukenschnabl had 22 digs. The loss extended the Bruins losing streak to 7-straight matches and was a tough one to swallow for the team as they walked off the court.
Looking to finish the day strong, the Bruins came out for their final match of the day as they battled the Lansing Community College stars. Lansing was able to take the opening set 25-17 after they used a strong run to open the match.
In the second set, the Bruins were determined to play better and it showed particularly behind the scoring touch of Erin Jarvis as the Bruins took the upper hand. The team continued to piece together a good flow with their offense as they took the second set 25-16.
The Bruins kept up their good play as they stormed out to another lead in set three. Saleena Walker had a strong serve for the Bruins with three aces on the day as the team held off the Stars late rally to win the third set 25-20. The Bruins now led the match 2-1.
It appeared to be deja vu for the Bruins in the fourth set as the team just couldn't seem to put away the Stars. With each point the Bruins would gain the Stars would match it as the two teams battled back and forth. The Bruins wouldn't be denied the win in this one as the team closed out the Stars 25-22 to win the match 3-1.
Erin Jarvis powered the Bruins with 12 kills in the match while Saleena Walker again had a strong defensive game with 48 digs. The match snapped the losing streak as the team improved to 8-11 on the season.
Next up, the Lady Bruins will be back in action tomorrow in Hickory, North Carolina as the team plays another tri-match as they battle Spartanburg Methodist College at 12 p.m. and Nova College at 3 p.m.
