The Bruins were on the road on Saturday afternoon as the team split their Saturday tri-match with a 3-0 win over Regent University before falling to Carolina University 3-1 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The team ends the regular season at 21-11 as they look ahead to the NCCAA DII South Region Tournament.
"We need to learn to execute when the pressure is on and not beat ourselves," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "Our goal is to get better with every game and we had a lot of unforced errors today."
The Bruins came into the Saturday match after sweeping Paine College 3-0 on Tuesday. The team was looking to carry their momentum into the final day of the regular season but knew they would be in for a tough test as they faced Regent and Carolina.
In the first match of the day, the Bruins would be paired with the Royals of Regent University who came into the match at 5-7 on the season. The Bruins stormed out to a 9-1 lead in the opening set thanks to kills from Faith Blalock and Timbre Cruz and a pair of aces from Katelyn Landkrohn.
The Bruins continued to pick apart the Royals defense as another 9-0 run pushed the lead to 19-4. The Royals tried desperately to slow the Bruins but the Bruins wouldn't be denied as an ace from Kiersten Hoopes and a kill from Katherine Hoopes helped BJU take set one 25-7.
In the second set, the Bruins and Royals were close early on as each traded points with the Bruins keeping a slim lead. Near the midway point of the set, the Bruins went on a 9-2 run thanks to two aces from Eden Swihart and kills from Emma Riddle and Timbre Cruz. As a result, the Bruins took a 2-0 lead in the match as the team went on to win set two 25-14.
The Bruins came out in set three looking to complete the sweep and it showed as the team stormed out to a 14-4 lead. The Royals made a kill to stop the momentum momentarily but the Bruins came right back as kills from Emma Riddle, Kyra Rickard and Katherine Hoopes helped the team lead 19-5.
From there, the Bruins never looked back as a kill from Bethany Estell and an error by Regent allowed BJU to finish off the Royals with a 25-10 win in set three and a 3-0 match win.
Katherine Hoopes led the Bruins with 18 kills in the win while Emma Riddle had 13. Kiersen Hoopes finished the match with 35 assists while Timbre Cruz and Katelyn Landkrohn each had 10 digs.
In the second 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 at 20-7 on the season having swept Regent earlier in the day.
The two teams went back and forth trading points and the lead in the early stages of set one before a 7-0 run by BJU allowed the Bruins to take a 13-7 lead and force Carolina into a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Carolina chipped away at the lead but the Bruins continued to maintain the upper hand as kills from Kyra Rickard and Faith Blalock pushed the lead to 18-12. Later on in the set, Carolina tried to battle back but the Bruins held on to win 25-17 in set one.
The Bruins carried their momentum into the second set as kills from Hoopes, Cruz and Blalock helped the team jump out to a 7-2 lead over Carolina. The Bruins continued to stretch their lead as a kill from Katherine Hoopes made it 17-11.
It looked as though the Bruins would run away with the set but Carolina had other plans as the team came roaring back to eventually tie the set at 24-24. Momentum had swung to Carolina and it showed as CU was able to complete the comeback and steal set two 28-26 and even the match 1-1.
In set three, the battle of the Bruins intensified as both teams traded points and the lead with several lead changes and ties throughout the set. Near the midway point of the set, the Bruins scored four-straight points to take a 16-14 lead. Carolina came right back with a run of their own and took advantage of the Bruins' mistakes as they went on to win set three 25-21 over BJU to lead the match 2-1.
With their backs against the wall, the Bruins came out looking even the match and force a fifth set. The score remained close in the early goings before a kill from Kyra Rickard evened the set at 12-12.
From there, Carolina mounted a 10-1 run to take a 22-14 lead in the set. The Bruins tried to battle back but Carolina wouldn't be denied as they went on to win set four 25-17 and the match 3-1.
"The second set was really a turning point in the match," Coach Denny said. "Carolina really pushed us and we needed that. We have seen improvement this season and we look forward to competing in the regional tournament next week."
Katherine Hoopes was the only Bruin in double-digits for kills as the freshman finished with 17 in the loss to go along with 17 digs. Kiersten Hoopes had 33 assists in the match while three Bruins recorded double-digit digs for the team with Katelyn Landkrohn leading the way with 28.
Next up, the Bruins will head to the NCCAA DII South Regional Tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, next weekend. The Bruins enter regionals with a 6-1 region record and will away final seeding information early this next week.
