In their penultimate regular season game, the Bob Jones University women's volleyball team picked up their fifth straight win with a 3-1 decision over Pfeiffer University Thursday night. With today's victory, the Bruins have improved to 24-10 on the year.
The game opened with the Bruins honoring the two seniors on the team, Faith Blalock and Eden Swihart, both who have been instrumental in the team's success over the past few years.
"Both of them are so special, and we are blessed to have them," said Assistant Coach Victoria Dunwoody. "We know God placed them on our team for a reason. Faith brings a lot on the court. She is very skilled athletically. Unfortunately, Eden wasn't able to play this year, but she has been serving as our team manager and chaplin and she brings so much maturity and wisdom to our team.
As the match got underway, Pfeiffer took a slight lead after an early back and forth effort. The Bruins battled back to even the score at 8-8, but the Falcons once again took the four point lead. After multiple errors early on, the Bruins strung together several good kills and blocks which helped pull the team back and tie the game. The Bruins finished the opening set on top 25-22 following an attack error by the Falcons.
Hannah Goodwin's block party put the Bruins on the board in set two. The Bruins took off on a nine point run to see a ten point lead. The Bruins maintained their advantage through most of the set and closed out the set 25-16.
Pfeiffer got to a hot start in set three pulling to a quick 7-2 advantage. Bob Jones came back to even it halfway through the third set. The two programs exchanged points as the Bruins looked to close out the match. With the set point on the line at 25-24 in favor of Bob Jones, the Falcons tallied three straight to stay in the game with a set score of 27-25.
The fourth set got off to a similar start to the second with the Bruins pulling to an early 9-2 lead. Despite the Falcons working to cut down the deficit, the Bruins pulled out the 25-18 set win to take the match 3-1.
"Our defense stepped up for us tonight," said Assistant Coach Victoria Dunwoody. "We had a couple of crucial moments where we had some big blocks or digs. So that was a big way for us to win today."
She continued saying, "these games are huge for us as we are playing NAIA and NCAA DIII teams. For us to go into these games and be intentional with each point, it is important for us as we go into regional play."
The Bruins wrap up the regular season next Tuesday night with one final home game against Carolina University.
