The Lady Bruins volleyball team started their season strong by cruising to a 3-0 victory over the Columbia International Rams on Thursday night at the Davis Field House.

"I felt like we came out slow and made some mistakes early on," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "We had some nerves and the excitement of playing in front of our home crowd. We got into a rhythm and then once we got to the third set we never looked back. We had a lot of players contribute for us tonight." 

Both teams struggled to find and sustain momentum in the early going of the first set. The set featured several ties and lead changes up until the Bruins broke a 17-17 tie. The Bruins were able to rely on blocks and two thunderous kills from sophomore outside hitter Brooke Beaver to secure a 25-22 victory. 

The second set opened just like the first set with both teams battling their way to a 12-12 tie. From that point on, the Bruins were able to capitalize off several Rams errors to take control of the game. The Rams were able to cut the lead down to three, but the Bruins used strong play from sophomore outside hitter Courtney Bates to bring home a 25-18 Bruins set two victory to lead the match 2-0.

The Bruins opened the third set with a 10-8 lead. From that point on, the Bruins took control as senior libero Saleena Walker served thirteen straight points for the team to spark a 13-0 run. The Bruins were able to finish off the Rams, highlighted by another Courtney Bates kill, cruising to a 25-11 victory.

"We had a lot of different people contribute at different times," said Denny. "Courtney had a great match. Our sophomore Brooke Beaver had a couple of critical kills just when we needed them." 

Bates posted a team-high thirteen kills while Walker notched a team-high 21 digs. The Lady Bruins will be playing three games this weekend in Greensboro, North Carolina starting with Piedmont College tomorrow at 5 p.m.