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The top-seeded Lady Bruins volleyball team had a dominant performance on Friday in the pool play round of the NCCAA DII South Regional Tournament. The team won in convincing fashion with back to back sweeps over #5 Johnson University of Florida 3-0 (25-10, 25-10, 25-16) and #4 Trinity College of Florida 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-6).
"It was a good start to the tournament for us," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "Everyone stepped up for us and we played really well in both matches."
The Bruins came into the region tournament with the #1 seed and it showed as they played with confidence all throughout the day. Their first match would be against Johnson University of Florida. The Bruins and Suns met twice during the regular season with BJU winning 3-1 and 3-0 in those matches.
In the opening set, the Bruins came out strong as they jumped ahead early off kills from Rachel Tubbs and Erin Jarvis. The team also played well defensively to limit the Suns offense. The Bruins never looked back as they took the opening set 25-10.
The second set brought much of the same as the Bruins were able to score with great accuracy both in serves and kills. The Suns couldn't find an answer to slow down the Bruins as BJU took the second set by the same score as the first 25-10 to take a 2-0 match lead.
With the sweep in sight, the Bruins locked in and played well in the final set. Tubbs was again dominant for the team as she had 7 kills in the match. Saleena Walker also provided a strong serving attack for the Bruins as the junior had 5 aces throughout the three sets. In the end, the Bruins wouldn't be denied as they swept the Suns 3-0 with a 25-16 win in the final set.
In the second match of the day, the Bruins were ready to battle the Tigers of Trinity College of Florida. The two teams met just once in the regular season with the Bruins capturing a 3-0 sweep. The Bruins were hoping history would repeat itself as they took the court against the Tigers.
Rachel Tubbs provided the scoring touch early and often for the team as the captain recorded 10 kills in the match. Her offensive spark helped the Bruins jump to an early lead and the team held on to win the opening set 25-12.
In the second set, the Tigers were able to remain close early on but the Bruins again combined their serve receive which transitioned nicely to the offensive attack for points. Saleena Walker had 24 digs in the match as the Bruins again took the set 25-16 to lead the match 2-0.
Walker would be the difference for the Bruins in the final set of the day as she served fourteen times in a row while recording five aces in that run. Her impressive serve put the game out of reach for the Tigers as the Bruins coasted to a 25-6 win in the final set to sweep the match 3-0.
On the day, the Bruins were able to play well both offensively and defensively to record their fourth and fifth wins in a row. Tubbs led the Bruins on the day with 17 kills while Erin Jarvis finished with 12 and Laura Gaston 11. Defensively, Saleena Walker had 47 digs on the day to combine with an impressive 12 aces over the course of two matches.
Next up, the Bruins will face #2 Pensacola Christian College on Saturday in the semi-final round of the region tournament. The winner will play in the region championship match at 3:30 p.m. against the winner of #3 Toccoa Falls College and #4 Trinity College.
