MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner opened Southern States Athletic Conference action this evening when it hosted Loyola here at Tine Davis Gymnasium. The Lady Eagles struggled little with the Wolfpack in the opening set, but subsequent error-prone sets allowed the visitors to gain momentum and take the match 15-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-11.

It appeared as though Faulkner could do no wrong in the opening set. The offense was firing on all cylinders and the defense was as scrappy as it's been all season. 

Loyola struggled to connect the dots early on and proved out of rhythm and confused at times.

The Lady Eagles entered the second set full of confidence, but a few minor blunders put the home team on its heals and the momentum that once permeated the Faulkner lineup found its way to the opposition. The home team never recovered.

Faulkner committed 45 errors over four sets and hit just .029 as a unit.

Standout performances for the Lady Eagles included middle Brittnay Renfroe and right side Shelby Woods who each accounted for eight kills, hitting .278 and .263 respectively.

Outside hitter Kelsey Bell followed with seven kills and had 10 digs.

Morgan Wilson offered up 16 assists in the match, while KK Lo had 13 and added 10 digs.

Libero Lindsey Ortner tallied 23 digs on the night.

Faulkner dropped to 4-6 overall and 0-1 in the league. The team will have a narrow window to make corrections as Belhaven arrives for another conference showdown here on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Gallery coming soon...