August 24 2019 Archives

August 24, 2019

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – After struggling to find offensive rhythm in California last week, the John Brown University volleyball squad pieced together back-to-back matches hitting over .300 to land clean sweeps of Bethel (Kan.) and Avila (Mo.) on Friday (Aug. 23) inside the Hutcherson Sports Arena.

In the first match of the day, the Golden Eagles (4-2) rode a pair of plus .500 hitting performances from junior Jaden Williams and senior Kinzee Mayo to the 25-19, 25-19, 25-14 win. Williams terminated a career-high 11 attempts and finished .529 (11-2-17) on the match. Mayo finished the match without committing an error, launching a season-high eight kills to finish .500 (8-0-16) on the morning.

The two-pronged passing effort of John Brown produced a pair of double-digit assist marks as freshman Lauren Cloud produced a career-high 21 assists. Sophomore Carrie Ciesla added 15.

The JBU defense held the Bethel attack in check all morning, as the Threshers could only mount a .074 (22-16-81) effort. Alongside a team total of six blocks, John Brown also scooped 38 of Bethel’s 81 attack attempts, led by senior Carly McKinney’s 15. McKinney has posted double-digit digs in all six matches so far this season.

Sophomore Jenna Lowery and Cloud each served up a trio of aces as the Golden Eagles finished the morning matchup with nine to help offset 13 errors.

John Brown continued its momentum into the afternoon against Avila – but this time it was McKinney’s 10 terminations in errorless fashion that drove the Golden Eagle attack effort. Alongside hitting .500 (10-0-20) on the match, the senior scooped another 10 attempts on defense to earn her a second double-double on the season.

Senior Megan Beck’s seven terminations and .350 attacking clip (7-0-20) also helped power JBU’s best offensive output of the season to date. The Golden Eagles finished with a .356 (40-9-87) mark in the quick 64 minute contest against the Eagles.

Ciesla shouldered the majority of the passing responsibilities to finish with 18 helpers, five digs and a trio of aces.

The Avila offense never really started and was bogged down by 23 attack errors to finish the match at a .040 clip (27-23-101). Katelyn Payan was the lone exception with a match-best 12 terminations.

JBU will finish the KCAC Fall Fling with a pair of matches in back-to-back fashion on Saturday (Aug. 24). The Golden Eagles will take on Oklahoma Wesleyan at 3 p.m. before facing Sterling (Kan.) in the finale at 5 p.m.

August 24, 2019

By JOHN BROWN SPORTS INFORMATION

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – After dropping its first two matches of the season, the John Brown University volleyball squad, behind a pair of wins over Oklahoma Wesleyan and Sterling (Kan.) on Saturday (Aug. 24), is now riding a six-match winning streak after picking up another pair of sweeps inside the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

“I am so very proud of the performance of our players this weekend,” head coach Ken Carver said. “Coming off our performance in California, our team looked good in almost every facet of the game save one and that was our offensive consistency. In preparation for this weekend’s tournament we spent a lot of time focusing on improving our output and cutting down on the number of unforced errors.

“The two other things we spent a good deal of time on was on improving our blocking technique and embracing and enjoying pressure situations. This weekend we got to put all of those things we practiced to the test and our team passed with flying colors. Going 4-0 on the weekend and not dropping a set was a phenomenal performance by our team. We faced adversity at several points in overcoming deficits and closing out sets that were really close.”

Having to play in back-to-back matches, the Golden Eagles (6-2) limited the amount of work needed on the courts by taking care of Oklahoma Wesleyan in straight sets, 25-19, 25-11, 25-13.

The blocking effort by the John Brown front row kept OKWU (1-3) at bay all afternoon as the Golden Eagles posted a season high 15 team blocks, led by senior Jessica Schultz’s six block-assists and junior Taylor Glover’s pair of solo rejections. The effort resulted in Wesleyan hitting a -.104 (23-34-106) on the match – a season-best effort for JBU.

Senior Carly McKinney led the way with 10 terminations, adding four blocks and an ace to her stat line. Schultz added eight kills as the duo combined for over half of the John Brown kill effort as the Blue and Gold hit .207 (28-10-87) on the match.

JBU then had to turn around and immediately face Sterling (Kan.) in its last match of the two-day KCAC Fall Fling. This time, it was senior Kinzee Mayo that shouldered the majority of the attack as she posted a career-high 12 kills, hitting .391 (12-3-23) on the match. McKinney barely missed out on the double-double, adding nine terminations and 12 scoops. Schultz finished with an efficient eight kills on 13 attacks to hit .615 in the late match.

Sophomore Carrie Ciesla and freshman Lauren Cloud passed out a combined 31 helpers on John Brown’s 44 kills, with Ciesla finishing with 18, Cloud with 13. Cloud would also add a pair of aces to led the squad after eight games with 13 aces.

Sophomore Jenna Lowery scooped up a game-high 19 digs.

The Warriors (1-3) couldn’t get the offense going, despite taking a 6-0 lead in the first set, and finished the match hitting .088 (28-18-114).

“To have a team attack over .200 for the weekend while limiting our opponents to an attack of .022 speaks to our players’ ability to execute at a high level on both the offensive and defensive fronts of the game,” added Carver. “Our setters did a great job of running a balanced offense and our hitters did a much better job of taking care of the ball and making smart shots. The results we had this weekend demonstrated the progress we had hoped to make with another week of practice with our team. The season is still very young and we still have a lot of growing to do, but I love the camaraderie this team has already developed, the depth we have on our roster and the mental toughness we’ve been able to show early on. We’ll enjoy the success of this weekend and then spend the next two weeks preparing for the start of our conference season and the opportunity we have to play in front of our home fans for our next four games.”

John Brown will now rest for two weeks before enjoying its home opener on Friday (Sept. 6) against Oklahoma City. First serve inside Bill George Arena is slated for 7 p.m.