USAO’s Comeback Attempt Falls Short on the Road at JBU

SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – Thursday night, the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (10-17, 6-13 SAC) suffered a hard-fought four-set loss at John Brown University (21-9, 14-5 SAC). 

With one match remaining on the schedule for the regular season, the Drovers sit in eighth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings, a half-game ahead of Central Christian College. At the conclusion of the regular season, the top eight teams in the conference will compete in the SAC Tournament, with a bid to the NAIA National Championship tournament on the line. USAO has qualified for the SAC Tournament as the No. 8 seed in each of the last two seasons. 

On Thursday, the Drovers got off to a rough start, but used a late rally to keep the score close. Despite their best comeback attempt, USAO suffered a 25-20 loss in the opening set. The start of the second set was tightly contested and JBU held a 13-10 lead midway through. The Golden Eagles managed to finish the set strong and claimed a 25-19 win to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. The third set was once again a close one, and the Drovers led for majority of the set, prior to clinging to the 25-23 victory to force a fourth set. JBU took an early lead in the fourth set and held a 13-9 lead midway through the set, before wrapping up the match with a 25-15 win. 

At the conclusion of the match, the USAO offense produced 43 kills on a .199 attack percentage, while John Brown had 59 kills on a .287 attack percentage. The Drover defense contributed 56 digs and 3.0 total blocks, while the Golden Eagles had 81 digs and 8.0 blocks. USAO scored on five aces, while JBU scored on 10 aces. 

Bruna Duarte and Victoria Southerland led USAO's offense, with 12 kills each. Duarte was very efficient, producing a .333 attack percentage and Southerland slugged at a .140 clip. Defensively, Duarte had five digs, while Southerland produced nine digs and three aces.

Giselle Calderon and Gabrielle Gunnoe each provided seven kills on offense. Samantha Perez added four kills and a pair of block assists.

Kalaya Pierce was the top distributer for USAO, dishing out 20 assists, along with eight digs, while Madison Garcia added 16 assists and four digs.

Yaiza Larrauri anchored the defense with 14 digs and three assists, followed by Katelyn Armendariz with 13 digs.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Drovers will return to Bisco McPherson Court for Senior Day on Saturday, November 4 as they host Oklahoma City University at 10:00 AM CT. The game is also part of USAO's Homecoming festivities this weekend. For more information about Homecoming, CLICK HERE! 

-USAO VOLLEYBALL SENIORS-

• #1 YEISHKA REYES (2022-23)
  • Reyes has appeared in 30 matches at USAO, tallying 49 kills, six aces, and 34 digs.

• #3 SOLEIL TREJO (2022-23)
  • Trejo has appeared in 50 matches and in that time she has recorded 57 assists, 32 aces, and 462 digs on defense. 

• #4 MADISON GARCIA (2020-2023)
  • Garcia is the winningest player in program history, having led the Drovers to 34 victories since 2020. She is USAO's all-time leader in assists with 1,862, and she has produced 93 aces, 47 kills, and 564 digs in 100 matches played. 

• #14 ALISHA HENDERSON (2022-23)
  • Henderson has appeared in three matches and has recorded one kill and a dig.

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