After back to back victories including a thrilling five-set victory on Friday night, the Bruins volleyball team was back in action on Saturday as the team competed in a tri-match in Columbia, South Carolina. Unfortunately, the Bruins couldn't keep their winning streak alive as the team fell to Johnson University (TN) before falling to Columbia International University 3-0. The losses today push the Bruins record to 11-3 on the season.
"I was disappointed with our performance today," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "We needed to bring our best game and unfortunately it just wasn't there for us today. Hopefully we can regroup and be ready as we have two strong region matchups this week."
In the opening match of the day, the Bruins faced Johnson University for the second time this season. The Bruins and Royals met on September 4 with BJU winning 3-1 at the Davis Field House. The Royals came into match having lost two of their last three games.
The Bruins jumped out to a 4-1 lead in set one as Kayla Oberstar recorded an ace and Victoria Glaze a kill. The Bruins maintained a slim lead but the Royals came back with five-straight points as they battled back to lead 11-7. The Bruins tried to keep pace, but another late run in the set for Johnson (TN) gave the Royals a 25-18 win in set one.
The Royals kept their momentum as they jumped out to a 7-3 lead in set two. The Bruins came roaring back as Emily Via and Kayla Oberstar made kills and Emma Riddle an ace to help tie the set at 9-9.
From there, the two teams went back and forth exchanging the lead before a four-point run helped the Bruins take a 22-20 lead. The Royals weren't about to let the set slip away as they battled back to tie it at 25-25. The Bruins were able to even the set as a kill from Victoria Glaze helped the Bruins tie the match at 1-1 with a 27-25 win in set two.
In set three, the score remained close throughout the set as the Bruins and Royals looked to take a match lead. Near the midway point of the set, kills from Harley Shumaker and Jensen Davis pushed the Royals lead to 18-13. The Bruins tried to battle back but the Royals finished off the set with a 25-19 win.
Errors continued to hurt the Bruins as set four began with the Royals jumping out to an 10-3 lead. The Bruins began to find their rhythm and slowly chipped away at the lead. After kills from Emily Via, the Bruins battled all the way back to trail 16-14. Still, the Royals maintained the slim lead and ended the match with a 25-22 victory in set four to win 3-1.
Victoria Glaze led the Bruins with 12 kills and 10 digs in the match while Katelyn Landkrohn had an incredible 40 digs in the loss. The loss to the Royals snapped a five-match winning streak for the team.
In the second matchup of the day, the Bruins would face Columbia International University. The Rams came into the match in the midst of a four-game winning streak including defeating Johnson University (TN) in the first match of the day.
The Bruins and Rams went back and forth in set one before a four-point run gave CIU an 8-3 lead. The Rams continued to keep the pressure on the Bruins and put the set out of reach with a 6-0 run later on in the set to win the opener 25-13.
In set two, the Rams continued to pick apart the Bruins defense and BJU struggled to find a counter attack as the team again fell behind 10-3. After a timeout, the Bruins were able to battle back to trail 14-12. The Rams came right back as the team again went on a late run scoring five-straight points to win set two 25-14 and lead the match 2-0.
The Bruins came out looking to keep their hopes alive. The Rams had other plans as again CIU jumped out to an early lead and eventually built a 12-4 advantage. The Bruins tried to answer back, but each point for BJU was answered back with multiple points for the Rams as CIU went on to complete the sweep with a 25-10 win in set three.
The Bruins struggled to get anything going offensively as the team mustered just 14 kills throughout the match. Next up, the Bruins return home on Tuesday night for an NCCAA DII South Region matchup as the team welcomes Toccoa Falls College.
