The Lady Bruins narrowly fell to the Converse College Valkyrie in five sets on Tuesday night at the Davis Field House. The Bruins put up a hard fight against their NCAA DII opponent, but weren't able to close the game in their favor as the team falls to 14-3 on the season.
The match started poorly for the Bruins as Converse got on a roll, finding the holes in the Bruins' defense. The Valkyries won six straight points before Bruins Coach Vickie Denny called a timeout as BJU trailed 9-3. The Bruins came out of the huddle with a strong kill from Brooke Beaver, but they were not able to hold a consistent serve. The Bruins were struggling to receive the Valkyrie's attacks and multiple miscommunications cost the Bruins needed points. The first set ended with a score of 25-16 in favor of Converse College.
The Bruins came out strong in the second set looking to even the match. Fighting past the mental block, the Bruins took the lead 13-7 after a five serve streak from Brooke Beaver. Great pushes from Rachel Williams and kills from Katherine Ring kept the Bruins ahead. Although the Valkyrie put up a fight, pulling the score up within two points a couple times, the Bruins kept their lead. Jordan Anderson ended the game with a kill, wrapping up the score 25-18 to tie the match 1-1.
Soon after their victory, however, the Bruins fell back into the mental trap. The Bruins weren't able to cover the hole right behind the blocker, and the Converse Valkyries knew it. When the score reached 5-1, Denny called a timeout to try to fix the errors. The Bruins struggled to span the gap between the scores and fell short of the mark this set. Converse closed out the set winning 25-18 to lead the match 2-1.
The fourth set was much closer. The score stayed within a few of points until the Valkyries pulled ahead 17-11. Then, with a kill from Ring, the Bruins were back in the game. Jordan Anderson pulled the score up to 18-17 with six successful serves. From then on, the score had only a one-point difference until the Bruins won the game 26-24 to tie the match 2-2. The match would move to a fifth and final set.
The fifth set kept the fans on their toes. The score was tied 15 different times and the lead changed eight times. The Bruins had nine successful kills and a serving ace. The game went long, points going from side to side. Both teams were fighting hard, but only one was able to pull ahead in the last moments of the set. The Converse College Valkyrie won the final set, ending the set 19-17 and the match 3-2.
"I thought the team did well by forcing it to a fifth set," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "Unfortunately, that fifth set, we made some critical mental errors right at the end, and that cost us the match."
Leading the Bruins in kills was Brooke Beaver with 15 while Jordan Anderson, Courtney Bates and Katherine Ring also reached double digits in kills. Beaver and Anderson also led in serving aces with three each. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 14-3. Next up, the team will be on the road Thursday as they play Piedmont International University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
