MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner hosted one of the nation's top teams tonight at Tine Davis Gymnasium in the Southern States Athletic Conference's volleyball Game of the Week. No. 5 Lee fended off numerous Lady Eagle rallies to secure the straight sets victory 25-17, 25-16, 25-19.

The Lady Flames produced on of the top offensive assaults the Lady Eagles have faced this season. Lee dominated at the net, hitting .321 as a unit while holding the home team to just .081.

Despite the the skewed statistics and being down three of its starters, Faulkner proved that down doesn't mean out. The Lady Eagles remained resilient, aggressive and positive throughout the match, something that head coach Tori Bartels found encouraging in a time of rebuilding.

"This is a very potent team, one that could have easily shut us down mentally," Bartels said. "The girls really fought hard. Yes, there were some times when we got in trouble in the receive or were out of position, but that's going to happen. We've had to overcome a lot of personnel changes and have asked a great deal from our freshman. We'd have loved to have taken set three because we had the upper hand for over half the points, but I'm very proud of our team nonetheless."

Faulkner could have easily hung its head going into set three with a two game deficit against the perennial power, but fans witnessed the opposite. The Lady Eagles jumped out to a quick lead and held it until the mid-teens.

Tremendous solo block efforts, powerful serves and rapid-fire attacks at the net kept Lee on its heels. The Lady Flames were plagued by serving errors and miscues up front that contributed to a big Faulkner lead.

The visitors sparked a rally after a well-placed timeout however, and the Faulkner defense was ultimately unable to hold off the Irene Ojukwu and Paula Martins threat at the net.

Ojukwu finished the game with 13 kills, hitting .391, and had seven digs and a solo block.

Martins followed with nine kills, hitting .412, and had five digs and a pair of blocks.

Sarah Ford had a huge night for Faulkner and led the offense with nine kills hitting an impressive .438. The freshman also had eight assists and six digs.

Brittnay Renfroe and Ariel Riley followed with four kills each and hit .444 and .200 respectively. Riley had two big solo blocks on the night.

Morgan Wilson had 16 assists in the match and Lindsey Ortner secured eight digs.

Faulkner dropped to 5-10 overall and 1-6 in the league. The Lady Eagles will travel to Jackson, Miss., for a conference battle with Belhaven on Friday. The match is set for 5 p.m.