The Johnson University Royals spoiled the Lady Bruins home opener on Saturday afternoon as the team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win the match 3-2. "We felt like we beat ourselves tonight. It wasn't a pretty volleyball match," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "Johnson did a great job of adjusting and we continued to make the same mistakes and they capitalized on them. We have a lot of work to do before next weekend that's for sure." 

The Davis Field House was crowded as Bruin nation was ready to see their team compete for the first time in the 2017 season. In the opening set, the Bruins fed off that energy as they jumped out to an 11-4 advantage. The team continued to hold the lead despite several short bursts by the Royals. After a JU timeout, the Royals clawed their way back into the set and trailed the Bruins 21-17. Saleena Walker came up with a big kill as the Bruins held off the Royals to win the opening set 25-20.

In the second set, the Bruins picked up where they left off as they scored five straight points to take the early lead. The Royals responded with a run of their own as they took advantage of Bruins errors to score seven straight points and take the lead 7-5. From there, the two teams went back and forth with neither able to gain a sizeable lead. After Katherine Ring spiked a kill, the Bruins trailed 21-19. Those were the last points of the set for the Bruins as the Royals had two kills and two aces to take the second set 25-19. 

Both teams struggled in the third set as several errors resulted in points for the opposition.The Bruins began to pull away as Erin Jarvis sparked the Bruins with a kill to allow the team to go on a 7-1 run to gain the upper hand. Despite the Royals efforts to rally, the Bruins took the third set 25-19 to lead the match 2-1.

As the fourth set began, the Bruins looked to close out the Royals but both teams traded the lead throughout. Eventually, the Royals built a small cushion as the score was 15-11. The Bruins came roaring back as Saleena Walker recorded two aces and Laura Gaston recorded three kills to give the Bruins a 20-16 lead. The Bruins continued to inch closer to the win and after a kill by Katherine Ring the score was 23-18. This time, it was the Royals who would serve a dramatic comeback as JU rallied with seven straight points to steal the 4th set 25-23. 

In the final set of the match, the Royals continued to ride momentum and take advantage of Bruins errors as they jumped out to a 6-3 lead. Despite the Bruins efforts at a comeback, their errors on both sides of the ball were too much to overcome as the Royals completed the comeback with a 15-9 win in the 5th set to capture a 3-2 win in the match. 

"This was a tough loss but this is a loss that we have a lot to learn from and if we can learn quickly we'll be a much better team."  "Our goal is to be better next week than we were tonight. We have a lot of potential and a lot of young athletic players but it is getting them to mesh together to see who our lineup is going to be. We made some changes from last year's offense and defense but we're still working on that." 

Saleena Walker led the Bruins with 8 kills on the night while Katherine Ring recorded 7. Walker also had a team-best four aces on the night. Rachel Tubbs led the team with 11 assists and also had 14 defensive digs on the night. 

Next up, the Bruins will host a labor day tournament next weekend. On Friday, the team will begin the tournament with a doubleheader against Brewton-Parker College and Dallas Christian College.