The Bruins saw their winning streak come to an end on Friday as the team fell to Southeastern University in match two of their Friday tri-match. The Bruins came up short after sweeping Trinity Baptist in the opening match of the day moving their record to 6-1 on the season.
"Overall, I was pleased with our effort today," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "Hopefully we grew throughout these matches as we get ready to finish our road trip tomorrow."
The Bruins came into the match after a 3-0 sweep of Brevard College on Tuesday night. The Bruins traveled to Florida with four matches on deck for the weekend.
For the first match of the day, the Bruins would face a familiar region opponent in Trinity Baptist College. The Bruins and Eagles took the court for the 7th meeting between the two programs.
In the opening set, the Bruins came out strong as Bailee Hunger made a kill to help the team build a 3-0 lead. The Bruins continued to find their rhythm offensively as kills from Hunger, Emily Via and Victoria Glaze further stretched the lead. Later on in the set, a kill by Kayla Oberstar increased the lead to 16-5 and the Bruins never looked back winning set one 25-12.
The Bruins again jumped out to an early lead in set two thanks to an ace from Oberstar and a kill from Emma Riddle. The Eagles tried to answer back, but the Bruins continued to find open holes in the defense for points. A 7-0 run for the Bruins in the midway point of the set again pushed the set out of reach as the Bruins cruised to a 25-9 win to move up 2-0 in the match.
In set three, the Bruins came out looking to complete the sweep. Hannah Prince recorded two aces and Emma Riddle and Victoria Glaze each made kills as the Bruins led 6-1. Defensively, the Bruins were able to play well at the net and digs kept the ball in play which led to kills offensively for the team. The team was in sync and it showed as they closed out set three on a 12-1 run including back to back aces from Prince to close out set three 25-8 and the match 3-0.
The Bruins combined for 38 kills in the match with Victoria Glaze leading the way with 9 and Kayla Oberstar, Emma Riddle, and Camila Silva each finishing with 7. Hannah Prince led the Bruins serving attack with 4 aces in the match.
Next up for the day, the Bruins would face Southeastern University. The Fire came into the match at 5-6 on the season and the two teams took the court for the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
In set one, the Bruins and Fire exchanged points with several ties and lead changes in the opening stages. After a kill by Camila Silva, the Bruins led 8-6 and hoped to keep the upper hand. The Fire responded with four-straight points, as both teams again went back and forth trading the lead.
Near the midway point of the set, Kayla Oberstar made a kill to tie the set at 17-17. From there, the Fire went on a hot streak as went on an 7-0 run before closing out the set 25-19.
The Bruins looked to respond in set two and built an early 8-4 lead thanks kills from Camila Silva and Kayla Oberstar. The Bruins continued to maintain their lead but the Fire again used a key five-point run to battle back and trail the Bruins 17-14.
Later on, back to back kills from Victoria Glaze pushed the lead to 22-19 as the Bruins looked to close out the set. Instead, the Fire battled back with a kill from Grace Petty and three-straight aces from Alexandra Postlethwa as SEU roared back to win set two 27-25.
The Fire had grabbed momentum and it showed as SEU stormed out to a 10-2 lead in set three. The Bruins responded with kills from Camila Silva but the Bruins couldn't seem to consistently keep their offense going. As a result, the Fire pushed their lead and closed out the match with a 25-15 win in set three.
"We knew Southeastern would be a good challenge for us," Coach Denny said. "We had opportunities to take set two but they are a very talented team with a lot of hitting options."
Victoria Glaze led the Bruins with 12 kills in the loss while Courtney Campbell had three aces for the team. Next up, the Bruins will be back in action on Saturday as the team plays Johnson University (FL) and Pensacola Christian College in Lakeland, Florida.
