The Bruins volleyball team continued their impressive winning streak on Monday night as the team defeated Southern Wesleyan University 3-0 in Central, South Carolina. The win marks the fourth straight sweep for the Bruins as the team improved to 17-3 on the season.
"We came out strong in the opening set and kept pace with SWU on offense and defense," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "I was especially pleased with how our team responded in the third set being down with the home crowd being loud and coming up with some big plays to come back and take the set."
The Bruins would make the short road trip to face Southern Wesleyan University in the first-ever volleyball matchup between these two programs. The Warriors came into the match at 1-10 overall, having dropped three of their last four games. The hometown crowd was out in full force at Historic Tysinger Gymnasium as both teams took the court.
In the opening set, the Bruins and Warriors traded points early on with the score remaining close. Near the midway point of the set, the Bruins went on a run as Laura Gaston, Brooke Beaver, and Katherine Ring all made kills to help the team take a 14-10 lead. The Warriors came right back with a run of their own as the score was tied 15-15.
The Bruins picked up the intensity and got a big kill from Emma Riddle followed by another from Victoria Glaze which sparked a 7-2 scoring run for BJU to take a 22-17 lead. The team was also very effective on the serve which made it hard for the Warriors to get into their rhythm offesnively. The Bruins finished off the set thanks to three straight errors on the Warriors as BJU took the opener 25-17.
With momentum, the Bruins came out strong in the second set as Beaver had a kill and an ace to build a 5-1 lead for BJU. Again, the Warriors started to make a comeback but the Bruins kept the upper hand thanks to great defensive play by Ring at the net. After kills by Ring and Gaston, the Bruins led 20-12 and never looked back as they closed out the set with five-straight points to take a commanding 2-0 match lead with a 25-12 win in set two.
The Warriors switched up their lineup in the third set as they desperately looked to avoid the sweep. It worked early on as the two teams matched each other point for point with several ties and lead changes.
After a error by the Bruins, the Warriors took a 17-14 lead as they looked to force a fourth set. Instead, the Bruins dug deep and came up with some great plays as the team went on a run to steal momentum and take a 22-19 lead. Brooke Beaver finished off the Warriors with three straight kills as the Bruins defeated Southern Wesleyan 25-23 to win the match 3-0.
Beaver led the Bruins with 13 kills in the match to go along with 11 digs and three aces. Katherine Ring had a great game for the team as well with 7 kills and five solo blocks. The Bruins combined for fifty digs as a team with Saleena Walker notching 18 in the match.
Next up, the Bruins will have a bit of a break as the team will be back in action on October 8 as they welcome Piedmont College to the Davis Field House. The Bruins will be looking to avenge a five-set loss to Piedmont earlier in the season.
