The Bruins volleyball team kept up their winning ways on Saturday in Cleveland, Georgia, as the team swept Allen University (3-0) and Truett-McConnell University (3-0) to improve to 13-2 on the season. With the win over Allen University, Coach Vickie Denny notched her 100th win with the Bruins volleyball team. She is nearing 1,100 career wins in her remarkable coaching career.
The Bruins came into the match on the heels of a sweep on Thursday night in which the team won in convincing fashion over Columbia College 3-0. They knew they would be in for a tough test on Saturday as they took the court against two NAIA programs. First up, the Bruins would be matched with the Allen University Yellow Jackets, who entered the match at 1-10 on the season.
In the opening set, the Bruins and Yellow Jackets traded points early on before Brooke Beaver and Brittany Annand helped spark a 9-0 run for the Bruins as the team led 14-3. Beaver continued to pick apart the Yellow Jacket defense with kills while Abby Plew added an ace as the Bruins kept on rolling. After a kill by Victoria Glaze, the Bruins closed out the set with five straight points to win 25-9.
The Yellow Jackets answered back by opening the second et with a 4-1 lead. The Bruins were committing errors, but Glaze brought the team back with two kills as the team fought back to tie the match 6-6. From there, the two teams traded points and the lead multiple times with neither team able to build more than a one or two point advantage.
After four straight errors by the Bruins, the Yellow Jackets led 18-16. The Bruins responded well as the team answered back by scoring the next four points in a row thanks to three kills from Brooke Beaver and an ace by Abby Plew. Again, the Bruins were able to close out the set well as Victoria Glaze provided the emphatic kill to give the Bruins a 25-23 set win and a 2-0 match lead.
The Bruins came out strong in the third set as they looked to close out the match. Saleena Walker had three aces for the Bruins early on as the team led 9-2. The Yellow Jackets tried to answer back but the Bruins defense stood strong to keep AU from getting into a rhythm offensively. After another ace from Walker and a kill by Laura Gaston, the Bruins closed out the third set 25-12 to complete the sweep 3-0.
Brooke Beaver led the Bruins with 13 kills in the match while Saleena Walker finished with 5 aces. Katherine Ring had a dominant performance for the Bruins with three solo blocks in the win.
For the second match of the day, the Bruins would be up against Truett-McConnell University. The team would be reunited with Coach Mark Corbin, who was the assistant coach of the Bruins 2018 national championship team. Corbin was hired as the head coach at Truett-McConnell this season.
As the match began, the Bears committed two quick errors and Brittany Annand added an ace as the Bruins jumped out to an early lead. The Bruins got a boost from Victoria Glaze as she had a pair of kills to help stop a Bears run near the midway point of the set as BJU led 9-6. The Bears continued to make several costly errors while the Bruins began to slowly distance their lead.
Annand had another ace as the Bruins led 17-11 and looked to close out the opening set. Instead, the Bears came roaring back on a run as a kill by Bethany Ross cut the Bruins lead to just 21-19. Katherine Ring answered right back for the Bruins with a kill and Abby Plew provided a late ace as the team took the opening set 25-20.
In the second set, the score remained close early on with the teams trading points and the lead. After a kill by Brooke Beaver, the Bears responded with a 4-0 run as they took an 11-9 lead. The Bruins answered back with a run of their own as Laura Gaston had three kills and Victoria Glaze two to help the Bruins go on a 6-1 run.
The Bruins were looking to close out the set, but the Bears had other ideas as they took advantage of the Bruins errors to pull within set point 24-22. The Bruins responded with three straight points thanks to kills by Gaston and Glaze as they led 25-24. The score tied twice before an attack error by the Bears gave the Bruins set point and Katherine Ring hammered down a kill to win the set as the Bruins rallied to win 28-26 and take a 2-0 match lead.
With momentum on their side, the Bruins came out strong in the third set and built a 5-1 lead. The Bears responded as two aces by Hannah Lee sparked a 7-0 run for Truett-McConnell. The score went back and forth with both teams going on short runs with the other answering right back. After a kill by Bethany Ross, the Bears tied the set once again at 20-20.
The Bruins had a sweep in sight and it showed as Laura Gaston came up with a kill to make it 21-20, but an error by Glaze tied it again at 21-21. Brooke Beaver recorded a well-placed kill, forcing the Bears to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, Beaver came up with another kill to put the Bruins ahead 24-21. Katherine Ring again ended the set with another kill to give the Bruins a hard-fought 25-21 win in the third set to sweep the match 3-0.
"We faced some adversity on the road today and the team responded with tenacity and grit," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "Both matches pushed us in different ways but the team always responded well. Saleena was stellar on defense all day long and Brooke and Victoria added some firepower for us at the net."
Victoria Glaze and Brooke Beaver led the Bruins in kills as each had 11 in the match with Laura Gaston finishing with 10. Brittany Annand recorded 35 assists in the match with Saleena Walker powering the Bruins defensively with 22 digs.
Next up, the Bruins will be on the road again on Tuesday night as they face Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
