The Bruins volleyball team notched their 10th win in a row on Friday night as the team swept Johnson University (FL) 3-0 on Senior Night. With the win, the Bruins improve to 17-5 on the season and remain unbeaten in region play at 6-0. Prior to the match, the Bruins honored their lone senior Emma Riddle for her hard work over the past four seasons with the team.
Riddle has been an impact player on and off the court for the program. She is top-three in program history in several categories and has been a starter for the team since her freshman season. Riddle made an impact again for the team tonight as she helped the Bruins complete their sixth-straight sweep.
"Emma is a sweet and special girl," Bruins Head Coach Vickie Denny said. "She came into our program with a lot of high level experience and was able to contribute for us right away. She has been an impact in our middle and to see how she has grown both personally and on the court has been a blessing. We're going to miss her."
The Bruins came into the homecoming match on Friday after defeating Johnson & Wales University on Tuesday night. The Suns came into Friday's match at 4-6 on the season having swept Trinity Baptist College on September 26. The two teams met earlier this season with the Bruins sweeping Johnson (FL) in Pensacola, Florida.
In the opening set, the Bruins came out strong as Timbre Cruz made a pair of kills to help the team lead 7-2. The Bruins kept the pressure on as they used great rhythm of play to pick apart the Suns defense and increase their lead. After a kill from Kyra Rickard, the Bruins led 17-7 and the team never looked back as they took set one 25-12.
The Bruins carried their momentum into set two as the team again jumped out to an early 9-0 lead. The Suns tried to battle back but the Bruins maintained the upper hand as kills from Kyra Rickard and Katherine Hoopes pushed the lead 19-10.
It looked as though the Bruins would run away with the second set but the Suns came roaring back with a rally to cut the lead 20-18. From there, the Bruins rode the confidence of their senior as Emma Riddle recorded a pair of kills to finish out the set 25-20 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, the Bruins came out looking to complete the sweep. The Suns had other plans as a back and forth opening led to a 7-4 lead for Johnson (FL). The score remained close near the midway point of the set as a kill from Leila Ramirez cut the Sun deficit to just 14-12.
From there, the Bruins went on a 9-0 run as a kill from Timbre Cruz and a pair of aces from Katelyn Landkrohn helped the team soar to a 23-13 advantage. Emma Riddle and Timbre Cruz then made kills as the Bruins won set three 25-14 to win the match 3-0.
"Johnson really pushed us tonight," Coach Denny said. "It was good for us to be pushed. We have to learn to play through adversity so for us to play close in that second set and still come away with the win was a big moment for us. I told the team there are a lot of different ways to win. Offensively, we were struggling but our defense and serve helped us finish it off."
Timbre Cruz led the way for the Bruins with a double-double as she finished with 10 kills and 14 digs in the win. Cruz was one of four players to earn double-digit digs on the night while Kiersten Hoopes finished with 26 assists.
Next up, the Bruins will wrap up their home schedule for the regular season as the team welcomes Piedmont University on Tuesday. The Bruins will take their impressive win streak into their final home match with the start time set for 7 p.m.
