BRUNSWICK, Ga. - The Lady Eagles returned to Howard Coffin Gym this evening to take on Coastal Georgia in their first Southern States Athletic Conference road matchup of the season. Faulkner battled in the school's invitational to open the year, but had yet to face the Mariners directly. Faulkner fought hard early, but Coastal Georgia proved too overpowering and blistered the Lady Eagles in straight sets 25-19, 25-7, 25-10.

With one of the most potent offenses in the league, the visitors knew it would be an up-hill challenge. Despite the daunting task however, Faulkner held its own for much of the opening bout. 

Sets two and three were completely different. The Mariners gave up 19 points in the opening round, but held Faulkner to just 17 over the remaining two sets.

The Mariners' Holly Hammer did just that striking for 14 kills and hitting an impressive .619. Kara Neisen echoed Hammer with 14 kills of her own, hitting .308, and had a pair of blocks. The two combined for half of the team's kill total.

Middle Alysa Klassen was the offensive leader for Faulkner with four kills hitting .300.

Fellow middle Brittnay Renfroe and outside hitter Kelsey Bell each had three kills, while Renfroe also accounted for 2.5 of Faulkner's three team blocks.

Morgan Wilson was the assist leader with eight followed by KK Lo with five.

"We fought hard in set one," said head coach Tori Bartels. "We worked through some things and held some ground. After that it was like watching a different team. We got nothing done on either side of the ball. Coastal Georgia is a very good team and you can't expect to take sets off and not get drilled."

Faulkner hit only 0.39 as a team while Coastal hit .459.

The Lady Eagles dropped to 5-7 overall and 1-2 in the SSAC. Faulkner will look to even out the league recored on Saturday when it travels to Mt. Vernon, Ga., to take on Brewton-Parker at 1 p.m.