The Lady Bruins volleyball team improved to 7-1 on the season and 4-0 in regional play on Saturday in decisive fashion as the team swept both Trinity College and Trinity Baptist College. It was impressive performance by the Bruins as the team dropped only one set over four matches this weekend.
"I thought we played well today," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "We had some goals to try to do some more things offensively and felt like we got that accomplished. We wanted to play our game and I thought we accomplished that today."
The Bruins faced off against the Trinity College Tigers, a team that had never defeated BJU in the program's four-year history. The Bruins took an early 4-1 lead in the first set. The Tigers managed to keep the game close throughout the opening minutes with a score of 8-5 in favor of the Bruins. The Bruins turned on the jets and never looked back as Lauren Mukenschnabl played well defensively to keep the ball in play with several great dives and digs. From there, the Bruins went on an 18-5 run to take the opening set 25-10.
Brittany Annand started the second set for the Bruins on a strong note, delivering an ace to put the Bruins on top 1-0. But once again, the Tigers were determined to stay on the Bruins' heels, trailing by the small margin of 6-4 early in the set. Coach Noble called a timeout for the Tigers hoping to spark a run. Instead, the Bruins stole momentum as they ran away with the second set and won 25-9 to lead the match 2-0.
The Bruins showed no signs of slowing down as they opened the third set scoring eight consecutive. Abby Plew added to the stellar play by recording two consecutive aces later in the set, giving the Bruins an 11-2 lead.
Coach Denny called a timeout and subbed in several players to give the team different player combinations. The Tigers responded as they started to shift the momentum back to their side. With an 11-4 scoring run, the Tigers cut the Bruins' lead to 21-17. Nevertheless, the Bruins ended the Tigers' hope of a comeback, ultimately winning the set and the match by a score of 25-19.
Brooke Beaver led the team in aces, collecting 8 over the course of the game. In addition, Brittany Annand racked up 29 assists. Victoria Glaze continued to fill the box score, ending the game with 9 kills and 5 digs.
Shortly thereafter, the Bruins were back at it, this time matching up against the Trinity Baptist College Eagles. As the first set began, the Bruins cruised to an early 7-1 lead. But they weren't finished: minutes later, the Bruins began a 7-0 run that put them ahead 14-2.
The Eagles responded by going on a short run, but the Bruins would simply not allow them to take the momentum away. Thanks to an overall team effort and a late error by the Eagles, the Bruins easily won the first set 25-12.
Early into the second set, the Eagles showed some signs of life as they stayed with the Bruins trading opening points. However, after two kills by Jeanna Bush and Victoria Glaze, the Bruins ended the Eagles' hope by finishing the set on an impressive 20-4 run. The second set ended with the score of 25-6 after an Eagles attack error.
With their backs against the wall, the Eagles came out in the third set fighting to stay alive, trailing but keeping the score close at 3-2. After an ace by Abby Plew that extended the lead 8-4, the Bruins caught fire and began a 5-1 scoring run. Brooke Beaver provided a spark for the Bruins offense, nailing multiple kills. Despite some small runs by the Eagles throughout the rest of the set, the Bruins finished the job by defeating the Eagles 25-15 to sweep the match 3-0.
Brittany Annand was a difference-maker for the Bruins posting 31 assists against the Eagles. Laura Gaston proved to be quite effective as a server, finishing the game with 6 aces.
"We have a little momentum right now and we need to take that momentum with us to Tuesday," Bruins captain Lauren Mukenschnabl said. With the weekend of victories behind them, the Bruins will seek their sixth win in a row as they travel to face Toccoa Falls College on Tuesday night.
