The Bruins volleyball team avenged an earlier season loss to Pfeiffer University as the team notched their 11th straight win with a 3-0 sweep of the Falcons on Thursday night in Misenheimer, North Carolina. With the win, the Bruins improve to 25-4 on the season.
"We came out focused and ready to compete tonight," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "It was an outstanding defensive performance tonight by our blockers dominating at the net. We also won the serve/serve receive game and just had a great team effort to get a great win."
The Bruins and Falcons last met on September 30, where the Bruins took the opening set and had a double-digit lead in set two before Pfeiffer rallied to take the set and eventually the match 3-1. Since then, the Bruins have been on a tear winning ten-straight matches including a 3-1 win over Piedmont College on Tuesday.
Pfeiffer came into Thursday's match at 18-10 and looked to get back on track as the team had dropped three of their last four games. The Bruins and Falcons took the floor at Merner Gym as the match was set to begin.
In the opening set, the Bruins jumped out to an early 4-1 lead as Bailee Hunger and Emma Riddle made kills. The Falcons were able to score three-straight points to cut into the lead, but the Bruins continued to maintain their lead thanks to great defensive plays and pinpoint kills from Victoria Glaze and Timbre Cruz. The Bruins then took set one 25-18 as the team scored six-straight points to close out the set with Glaze and Emily Via making key kills to seal the win.
The score remained close in the early stages of set two with errors by the Bruins allowing the Falcons to lead. The Bruins were able to come back and take the lead and then extended it as a 6-0 run gave the team a 21-17 lead. The Falcons tried to battle back but kills from Glaze and Riddle helped to finish off set two 25-20 as the Bruins took a 2-0 lead in the match.
In set three, the Bruins came out looking to complete the sweep and not let the Falcons back into the match. The two teams had several ties and lead changes in the early stages before another 6-0 run gave the Bruins a lead as the run was fueled by blocks from Riddle and Via and two aces from Glaze. Later on in the set, the Bruins scored five-straight points as Emma Riddle and Timbre Cruz each notched a pair of kills to help the Bruins lead 23-21.
It looked as though the Bruins would complete the sweep but the Falcons battled back to tie the set 24-24 forcing the Bruins into a timeout. The Bruins came out strong as Emma Riddle made a crucial kill for the team before an error by the Falcons gave the Bruins a 26-24 win in set three and a 3-0 sweep in the match.
Victoria Glaze led the Bruins with 12 kills to go along with 7 digs and 3 aces in the win. Emma Riddle had a strong match for the Bruins with 8 kills and 4 block assists while Hannah Prince and Rachel Pattisall combined for 28 assists in the match.
Next up, the Bruins will wrap up the regular season on Saturday as the team plays a tri-match against Regent University and Carolina University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
