The John Brown University (JBU) volleyball team has now crossed the halfway point on their regular season schedule. In the process, they have continued their winning ways. After a mostly successful run in their non-conference slate in August and September, the Golden Eagles kept the wins coming, defeating Oklahoma Panhandle State on Sept. 16 and Wayland Baptist on Sept. 17, both on the road. Following this, they came back home to Bill George Arena, where they turned in winning efforts against Mid-America Christian on Sept. 22 and Science & Arts on Sept. 24. This brought their record to 12-3 overall and 7-1 in Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) play.
In the match against OPSU, the Golden Eagles faced an Aggies team that gave them all they had. After the Golden Eagles won a close first set (25-21), Oklahoma Panhandle State dominated the second, taking the win (25-17) and evening the match at one set apiece. JBU opened the third on a 15-6 run. While the Aggies picked up offensively as the set progressed, the early deficit was too much to overcome, as the Golden Eagles cruised to a fairly comfortable win (25-18). With the match on the line, the Aggies won a close, hard-fought fourth set to stay in contention (25-23), finishing it off with a 4-1 run to seal the deal. The fifth set started close and hotly-contested out of the gate, with the teams splitting the first six rallies, but JBU was able to get on a 10-4 run to put them up 13-7. The Aggies got on a 4-0 to cut the JBU lead to two, but a kill by Callie Mullins and an attack error from Essence West handed JBU the victory in the fifth set (15-11), and the match.
The next day, JBU took on Wayland Baptist, a team that had struggled mightily to start the season, as the Pioneers entered the matchup 1-9 overall and 1-4 in SAC play. Despite that, Wayland Baptist held their own in the match, taking the first four rallies, and keeping the lead for much of the first set. John Brown picked up the pace offensively as the set progressed, finishing things off with a 13-7 run that got JBU the win in the first (25-19). Another late run handed the Golden Eagles a win in the second set (25-20), as they took seven of the last nine rallies after being tied at 18. Wayland Baptist, needing to win all three possible remaining sets to win the match, fired out strong in the third, kicking things off with a 13-3 run that forced JBU into a double-digit deficit. The Golden Eagles were able to overcome this, though, behind a big performance from Savanna Riney, who tallied nine kills in the set. As a team, the Golden Eagles outscored the Pioneers 22-10 after falling behind by double-digits to win the set and the match (25-23), completing the sweep against Wayland Baptist.
JBU faced another tough test through Mid-America Christian on Sept. 22 inside Bill George Arena. The Golden Eagles started strong, winning the first set in commanding fashion (25-15), with Riney contributing five kills. The Evangels responded in the second, taking control from the start with an 8-2 run to open things up. The Golden Eagles struggled to keep up, and MACU took the win (25-17) to even the match at one set each. JBU responded from the setback by starting the third set with a 10-5 run, and while the JBU lead was never much more comfortable beyond that, they didn’t surrender the lead after this point and took the set to retake the lead in the match (25-19). A 9-0 run in the middle of the fourth set gave the Golden Eagles enough separation from their opponents that MACU wasn’t, ultimately, able to overcome the deficit. JBU took the set by double-digits (25-11) and the match.
On Sept. 24, JBU took the court to face Science & Arts, another team that has faced struggles early on this season, especially in conference play, with the Drovers entering the match 5-7 overall and 1-6 in SAC play. The first set was evenly contested throughout, with the Drovers overcoming an early deficit to take the lead, 16-15. Despite that, JBU responded with a 10-3 run to end the set, led by three service aces in that span, to take the win (25-19). John Brown got better as the match progressed, dominating offensively in the second to take a double-digit win (25-15). JBU was able to exceed their level of dominance in the second by bolting to an even bigger win in the third (25-12), sweeping the Drovers. The match was highlighted by 13 aces, five coming from Jillian Blackman.
The successful showings have brought momentum to a JBU team that will most certainly need it, as they will have their hands full when they head down to Texas for a couple of matches against ranked opponents at the end of the week. The Golden Eagles will face Southwestern Assemblies of God, ranked tenth in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll, as of Monday night, on Friday, Sept. 30, at 7:00 PM in Waxahachie. While JBU owns the all-time series lead (13-11 all-time against the Lions), they have lost nine of their last ten against SAGU, two of which came in SAC postseason play. The Golden Eagles take the court again the following afternoon on Oct. 1, when they face Texas Wesleyan in Fort Worth at 1:00 PM. The Rams, ranked 24th, as of Monday night, have won 11 of their last 14 against the Golden Eagles. JBU hasn’t defeated Texas Wesleyan outside of Bill George Arena since 2014. They return to Bill George Arena to face Southwestern Christian on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 7:00 PM.
Meanwhile, the junior varsity team has taken the court four times in the last two weeks. They defeated Evangel on Sept. 16 in Springfield, Missouri, in a three-set sweep over the Valor. They returned to Bill George Arena on Sept. 22, where they fell in three sets to Seminole State. Erin Mullins hit double-digits in kills (12) in the match. On Sept. 24, they faced East Central and Independence in Independence, Kansas. After dropping a five-setter to East Central, the Golden Eagles responded by taking a five-set victory over Independence, placing their overall record at 8-3. The win over Independence placed them above last season’s win total, with a month left in the season. The junior varsity team is scheduled to play next on Wednesday, Oct. 12 against Seminole State in Seminole, Oklahoma, before returning to Bill George Arena to face Randall on Saturday, Oct. 15.