MONTGOMERY,Ala. – After spending three weeks and 12 consecutive matches on the road, Faulkner looked to open its home season with a victory against Berry College atTine Davis Gymnasium on Thursday. The Lady Eagles suffered a slow start despite stellar fan support and the Vikings quickly capitalized and clinched the win in straight sets 25-19, 25-15, 29-27.

Once again, Faulkner failed to fire on all cylinders until the third set. The opening battle seemed to catch the team off guard, while the group was error-prone and mentally aggravated in the second set.

Faulkner darted out to a 7-1 lead in the third, however, and looked both confident and physically dominant. A Berry timeout however, flipped the momentum and the Vikings crept into a two-point lead with eight unanswered bullets.

Three service aces by Kelsey Bell brought the home team back into the mix near mid set and a back and forth battle carried play into extended points. Faulkner held off match point twice, but Berry was able to hold on just a little longer.

Berry played clean and consistently aside from some blunders early in the third set. It was Faulkner's lack of attack, however, that ultimately did them in.

"We really didn't show up to play tonight," said head coach Tori Bartels. "I think we had the better weapons, but we couldn't execute and when you play a scrappy team like Berry, you can't win without playing at full power."

The Vikings held Faulkner to some if the lowest hitting percentages of the season.

Bell led the offense with eight kills and had seven digs and five aces. Neysa Hernandez followed with seven kills and had seven digs of her own.

Shelby Woods was the most effect threat with six kills hitting .357. She added a pair of blocks.

Abbie Melvin led the defense with 13 digs and had five kills. Lindsey Ortner had 12digs.

Morgan Wilson and KK Lo each had 13 assists.

Faulkner (10-3) will need to regroup quickly. The Lady Eagles host the Southern States Athletic Conference cross-divisional tournament beginning Friday when they take on Emmanuel (11-1)at 5 p.m.