SHAWNEE – St. Gregory's senior Ashlyn Broussard put up big numbers, but the Cavaliers came up short in their regular-season finale Friday afternoon at Sumner Field House. John Brown (Ark.) posted a 3-1 decision (25-16, 25-22, 22-25, 25-20) to take control of its destiny in hosting a first-round Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament match.
With a win, SGU (19-15, 10-8 SAC) would have clinched the No. 4 seed and that home match. Now, the Golden Eagles can take it with a victory Saturday at USAO.
Broussard finished with a match-high 21 kills and 25 digs. It was her career-best 24th double-double of the season and the fourth time this season she's gone over 20 terminations.
JBU (19-11, 10-7 SAC) set the tone early in winning for the fifth time in its last six matches. Leading 18-15 in the first, the Golden Eagles finished the frame on a 7-1 run to go up a set. JBU hit .295 in the frame.
After a Cierra Mullins kill and Golden Eagle attack error tied it at 22 in the second set, the visitors finished strong again – this time with consecutive points on a pair of kills and an SGU ball handling error.
The Cavs stayed alive with a victory in the third. Mullins closed the set with a kill from Sarah Ahrens. The home team enjoyed its best attacking game of the night in the frame (.280).
The visitors would put it away with a late run in the fourth, though. After Broussard got the Cavs to within 22-19 on a kill from Bianca Olivares, the Golden Eagles ended it by posting three of the match's final four points.
Molli Pugh finished with 11 kills and 21 digs to lead JBU. Defensively, it was a block party for the Golden Eagles, who had three players with at least seven rejections.
Mullins was the only other Cavalier with double-digit kills (14). Ahrens and Olivares finished with 20 assists each, while Kayley Davis tallied a match-high 31 digs.