CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Faulkner entered day two of the second Southern States Athletic Conference cross-divisional tournament of the season on Saturday when it took on Brewton-Parker and No. 5 Lee. The Lady Eagles clipped the Golden Tigers in straight sets 25-22, 25-19, 25-22 in the first round of the day. Perennial power Lee proved dominant however, and secured the win 25-17, 25-16, 25-16.

"Overall this was much better play from our team," said head coach Tori Bartels. "We've struggled with being flat and getting discouraged early. Today, we showed up to play. We did well against Brewton-Parker and got the win, but I'm perhaps more impressed with how hard we played against Lee. They are a very solid team and to go toe to toe with them for the bulk of the match was very important for us."

Faulkner was led by Neysa Hernandez on both sides of the ball against the Golden Tigers. The senior had 14 kills hitting .440, and had 13 digs and a pair of blocks.

Kelsey Bell followed with seven kills hitting .455, and had four total blocks.

Abbie Melvin had 12 digs in the match and offered six kills hitting. 455 as well.

KK Lo had 11 assists.

The Flames flipped the coin however, keeping the Lady Eagles from generating much offense. Lee effectively kept Faulkner's top two hitters out of the strike zone forcing others to pick up the pace.

Shelby Woods was the kill leader for Faulkner with six and added a pair of blocks.

Jessica Long added four kills and was the only Lady Eagle to break the 200 hitting barrier with .235. Brittnay Renfroe also had four kills and hit .167.

Faulkner moves to 13-9 overall and 2-6 in the league. Faulkner finds itself at the bottom of the West division, but will try to spark a comeback when it takes on Mobile in a road matchup on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.