The Bruins volleyball team saw their twelve-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday as the team split their Saturday tri-match with a win over Regent University and a loss to Carolina University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Bruins wrap up the regular season at 26-5 and will play in the NCCAA DII South Regional Tournament next week.
"It was a good final day of competition before we head into regionals," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. In the second match, Carolina pushed us and we struggled stepping up to the challenge. I did like the way we didn't give up and played tough to the very last point. Hopefully we can learn from this lost and get better for our postseason play."
The Bruins came into the match on the heels of back to back road wins this week over Piedmont University and Pfeiffer University. As they entered Saturday's tri-match the Bruins would face Regent University and Carolina University, both of which the Bruins were able to defeat earlier in the season. The Bruins would take the court against Regent for the first match of the day.
In the opening set, the Bruins came out strong as Hannah Prince recorded back to back aces to give the Bruins a 4-0 lead. The Bruins kept up the pressure as they later went on a 5-0 run forcing the Royals to call a timeout. The Bruins refused to let up as they went on to win set one 25-15.
The Bruins and Royals exchanged points in the early stages of set two before the Bruins scored three straight points to take a 6-3 lead thanks to back to back kills from Victoria Glaze. The Bruins continued to maintain the lead and held off the Royals as a kill from Emily Via gave the Bruins a 22-17 lead.
It looked as though the Bruins would run away with set two, but the Royals rallied to score four straight points as the Bruins led 22-21. The Bruins then got big kills from Victoria Glaze and Camila Silva as they won set two 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Bruins looked to complete the sweep in set three as they came out strong building an early 6-3 lead. The Bruins then extended their lead as Emily Via recorded back to back aces to spark a run as the team led 16-6. The Royals tried to mount one last rally, but the Bruins finished off Regent as Victoria Glaze made a kill to win the set 25-14 and the match 3-0.
Glaze finished the match with a double-double 13 kills and 13 digs in the win while Hannah Prince finished with 19 assists and 3 aces.
For the final match of the day, the Bruins would be paired with Carolina University in the next chapter of the battle of the Bruins. Carolina came into the match having defeated Regent University earlier in the day.
In the opening set, the Bruins took an early lead over Carolina as kills from Bailee Hunger and Victoria Glaze and an ace from Katelyn Landkrohn gave the team a 4-2 lead. Carolina refused to back down and stayed close and took their first lead as they scored three-straight to climb ahead 11-10.
Later on in the set, Carolina went on a 6-0 run thanks to kills from Chiara Mottola as they stormed out to a 23-15 lead. The Bruins couldn't recover as Carolina won set one 25-16.
Carolina carried their momentum into set two as kills from Kylie Kay and an ace from Regan Adams helped the team jump out to lead 5-1. The Bruins looked for answers, but couldn't seem to slow Carolina. After a timeout, Carolina continued to distance themselves as an 8-0 run gave the team a 17-5 lead. The Bruins tried to battle back but the hole was too much to dig out of as Carolina cruised to a 25-11 win in set two to lead the match 2-0.
With their backs against the wall, the Bruins came out in set three looking to avoid the sweep. The two teams traded points early on before two errors by the Bruins gave Carolina a 5-3 lead.
The Bruins battled back as Camila Silva turned in kills to help the Bruins go on a 10-1 run as the team led 17-11. The Bruins had grabbed momentum and looked to finish off set three. Their excitement would be short-lived as Carolina would score nine-straight points to battle all the way back and take a 20-19 lead.
In the final stages of the set, the Bruins took a 23-22 lead, but Carolina finished off the match as they recorded three straight kills to win set three 25-23 and the match 3-0.
The Bruins had three players in double-digits in digs but the team struggled to make kills as Victoria Glaze led the team with 6 in the loss.
With the results of the day, the Bruins wrap up the regular season as the team looks ahead to the NCCAA DII South Regional Tournament. The Bruins will await final seeding and will look to win their sixth-straight region title next week in Toccoa Falls, Georgia.
