The Bruins volleyball team suffered a tough loss on Tuesday night as the team fell to Toccoa Falls College in a five-set match in Toccoa Falls, Georgia. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 4-4 on the season and 2-1 in region play.
"It's never easy to beat a good team three times in one season," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "Toccoa outplayed us in every category tonight and I was especially disappointed with our serving efforts missons so many serves at key times which cost us sets."
The Bruins came into the match on the heels of splitting their home tri-match on Friday with a win over Carolina University and a loss to Life University. The Screaming Eagles came into Tuesday's match at 7-3 after back to back region wins over the weekend in Florida. The Bruins and Screaming Eagles met twice earlier this season with the Bruins sweeping both matches 3-0. In their history, the Bruins had never lost to Toccoa Falls College winning the previous 13 matches.
In the opening set, the Bruins and Screaming Eagles exchanged points before Brooke Beaver made a kill and Faith Rahn an ace to give the Bruins a 10-7 lead. The Screaming Eagles came right back thanks to unforced errors by the Bruins as both teams eventually tied 16-16.
Both teams went back and forth trading points before Victoria Glaze made a kill to help the Bruins get to set point 24-22. With their backs against the wall, the Screaming Eagles responded as they recorded two aces and a kill to score four straight points and win set one 26-24.
The Bruins had let the first set slip away and came out strong in set two to take a 4-1 lead. The Screaming Eagles battled back to tie before Emma Riddle made a kill and Rachel Pattisall an ace as the Bruins went on an 8-0 run to lead 13-5. The Screaming Eagles tried to claw their way back but the Bruins never looked back as they took set two 25-13 to tie the match 1-1.
In the third set, the Bruins kept their momentum as they again jumped out to an early 7-2 lead. Brooke Beaver then extended the lead with three straight aces as the Bruins led 13-5. It looked as though the Bruins would coast to win set three, but errors began to allow the Screaming Eagles back into the set. With a 20-15 lead, the Bruins tried to close out the set but TFC rallied from the energy of the hometown crowd to storm back and win the set 25-23.
The Bruins were down 2-1 as they began set four and were determined to even the match as the team came out strong with an 8-2 lead. Again, the Screaming Eagles began to chip away at the lead but Kayla Oberstar and Brooke Beaver each recorded kills to maintain the upper hand for BJU.
After a timeout by Toccoa, Brooke Beaver added a kill and two aces to help the Bruins push their lead 21-12. The team closed out the set thanks to a kill from Emma Riddle and errors by the Screaming Eagles as they took set four 25-15 to force a fifth and final set.
Both teams took the court knowing one would walk off a winner after the fifth set. Victoria Glaze recorded back to back kills to give the Bruins the early lead but the Screaming Eagles responded with six straight points to lead 6-2.
After a Bruins timeout, the team was able to battle back to tie the set at 8-8 thanks to kills from Glaze and Beaver. The Screaming Eagles then took the lead after a service error by the Bruins and back to back attack errors. The Bruins tried to mount one last rally, but a kill from Natalie Thompson ended any hopes of a comeback as the Bruins fell to Toccoa Falls 15-10 in set five and 3-2 in the match.
"Our goal is to get better every practice so tomorrow we are going to regroup and get ready for our next match on Thursday," Coach Denny said.
Victoria Glaze and Brooke Beaver led the Bruins with 12 kills each while Kayla Oberstar had 8 kills. Brittany Annand recorded 20 assists on the night while Brooke Beaver had 17 digs to go along with 5 aces. A key stat in the loss was the service errors as the Bruins committed fifteen in the match to go along with several receiving errors and attack errors.
Next up, the Bruins will be on the road again on Thursday as they travel to Due West, South Carolina, for a matchup with Erskine College.
