The Bruins volleyball team avenged an earlier season road loss on Tuesday night as the team swept Piedmont College 3-0 (25-19, 27-25, 25-13). With the win, the Bruins won their fifth match in a row and have won fifteen-straight sets during that streak to improve to 18-3 on the season.
"We played a much better match tonight than the last time we met," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "Defensively, we were able to adjust and picked up a lot of their roll shots and tips. It was a great team effort for us tonight."
The last time these two teams played, the Bruins took a 2-0 match lead before the Lions came roaring back to win in a five-set thriller 3-2 in Demorest, Georgia. The Bruins were determined to not let history repeat itself as they took the court in front of their hometown fans at the Davis Field House.
In the opening set, the Bruins and Lions exchanged points early on before the Bruins took a 12-9 lead thanks to kills from Emma Riddle and Brooke Beaver. The Bruins continued their run as back to back aces by Brittany Annand increased the lead.
The Lions answered back with a 5-0 run to cut into the lead but the Bruins maintained the upper hand thanks to a kill by Laura Gaston and an ace by Beaver. With the Lions closing in, the Bruins responded well as kills by Victoria Glaze and Brooke Beaver helped the team close out set one with a 25-19 win.
As the second set began, the Bruins carried over the momentum as they stormed out to a 6-1 lead thanks to great serving by Annand and Beaver. The Lions began to chip away at the Bruins lead eventually battling back to tie the set 14-14.
From there, the two teams traded points with the score remaining close. The Bruins looked to take set two as two kills from Beaver and a kill from Glaze gave the team a 23-20 lead. The Lions came back with three straight points to tie the set before the teams went back and forth with the Bruins getting kills from Gaston and Beaver to close out the set 27-25.
With a 2-0 match lead, the Bruins found themselves in the same position as before when they faced the Lions. This time, the Bruins were determined to finish off Piedmont and it showed as kills by Katherine Ring and an ace by Glaze helped the team build a 6-3 lead. Defensively, the Bruins were carried by senior Saleena Walker as she kept balls alive with several diving digs.
Near the midway point of the set, the Bruins went on a big 11-1 run thanks to kills from Ring and Beaver and errors by the Lions. As a result, the Bruins took a 21-10 lead and never looked back as they finished off the Lions 25-13 to sweep the match 3-0.
"Several players stepped up for us at different times to help secure the win tonight and that is how we have been successful so far this season," Coach Denny said.
Brooke Beaver led the Bruins with 16 kills and 18 digs in the match while Katherine Ring had 11 kills. Brittany Annand finished with 38 assists while Saleena Walker made 36 digs for the team. Freshman Emma Riddle had a strong defensive performance with 5 solo blocks in the win.
Next up, the Bruins will be back home again on Friday night for their homecoming match against Johnson & Wales University. It will also be senior night as the Bruins honor the seniors on this year's roster.
