The #4 Bob Jones University women's volleyball team opened their time at the NCCAA National Championship with a 3-1 win over #5 Faith Baptist Bible College in Joplin, Missouri. After falling late in set one, the Bruins came back to win the next three in the opening match of the national tournament.
Today's opponent, Faith Baptist Bible College entered the tournament as the #5 seed and with a 26-7 season record after winning the North Region title game. The Bruins and Eagles met once before at the national tournament in 2021 where the Bruins won in straight sets.
As today's opening pool play game got underway, the Eagles tallied the first point off of a Bruins attack error before the BJU responded with a four point run to take the early lead. The Eagles soon evened the score 8-8. It remained close, but BJU eventually pulled back in the lead and was the first to hit 20 points. The Eagles responded with an 8-1 run to go up 24-21. Another attack error by Bob Jones gave the Eagles the set point in the 25-22 opening set win.
In a similar story to set two, a Bruins attack error gave the Eagles the opening point before the Bruins put up the next few points. The Bruins powered to another lead and eventually pulled to a nine point 21-12 advantage. Faith worked to battle back but the Bruins held on to even the match 1-1 with a 25-19 set two win.
Faith took the early lead in the third frame before the Bruins battled back to knot the score. The two teams worked to keep the score tight, but the Bruins edged out the Eagles 25-21.
Bob Jones played well to get off to a hot 8-1 start in the fourth set. After creating a sizable lead, the Eagles went on a run of their own to try and close the gap. Looking to close out the game, the Bruins took advantage of several errors by the Eagles to take the set win 25-17 and close out the opening match at the NCCAA National Championship 3-1.
"Getting the first match done and won was a good start for us," said Coach Christa Schlichting following the game. "Faith pushed us, but I am thankful that we responded well after dropping the first set the way that we did, and that helped us to secure the win today. It was a good first win for us but we will need to minimize our enforced errors to truly be successful at this national tournament."
Pool play continues on Thursday as the Bruins open the day with a morning contest against #8 Ozark Christian College at 10:30 a.m. before facing #1 Manhattan Christian College at 2:30 p.m.
