SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Faulkner overcame first-set jitters this afternoon and took down Marygrove College (Mich.) in season-opening action 23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-20 here in the Arizona Christian tournament. The Lady Eagles then went toe-to-toe with upstart Benedictine at Mesa (Ariz.) where they came up short in five sets  25-23, 20-25, 20-25, 25-17, 11-15.

Faulkner stumbled a bit mentally in this afternoon's opening number, but leveled things out relatively quickly to put the Mustangs away and start the season off in the win column.

"We had two rotations early on where we struggled and that really allowed Marygrove to take advantage," said head coach Tori Bartels. "We weren't communicating and making really simple mistakes and it just took a toll on us. We talked through some things and made a few personnel adjustments and we started clicking better after that."

Faulkner then catapulted out of a late deficit in the opening set against Benedictine-Mesa to claim the slight victory before the Redhawks bounced back with a pair of five-point victories.

Bartels made some key adjustments to the lineup and drew from the bench in the crucial fourth set that allowed freshman middle Krystalynn Leomiti to erupt on the outside, while freshmen Emily-Ann Linder and Tori Marchant helped anchor the back row and middle positions respectively.

The Lady Eagles finally ignited after the fix with a ferocity that sent the Redhawks back to the drawing board. Benedictine-Mesa capitalized on a handful of Faulkner mistakes around the mid-set mark in the due-or-die fifth however, to weight the match in its favor.

"I'll take a loss when you fight for it like that and we have people coming off the bench and shining," Bartels told her team after the loss. "The competitor in me wants the 'W', but I'd rather have the heart I saw and you guys playing for everything."

Outside hitter Sarah Dubberley led the Lady Eagles on the offensive front and back row en route to a pair of double-doubles. The senior compiled 24 kills hitting an impressive .275 on the day and added 42 digs and three total blocks.

Middle blocker Alysa Klassen added 15 kills hitting .208 and led the defense with nine total blocks. 

Lomioti tallied 19 kills - 12 of which came against Benedictine-Mesa - hitting .242 against the pair of opponents and added seven total blocks.

Sarah Ford offered up 15 kills from the right side and hit .374 overall.

Katie Musser loaded the cylinder with 48 assists followed by Jordan Jones with 31 and the tandem had 16 and 19 digs respectively.

Libero Delricka Anthony added another 36 digs while Elissa Cargile had nine kills against the Redhawks and 25 digs and five aces on the afternoon.

"We still have some hiccups to sort through, but overall I was very happy with our play this afternoon," Bartels said. "Players were stepping up in big ways and playing selflessly and that is something I'm very proud of. Tomorrow will be more difficult than today overall, so we need to come focused and ready to pick up where we left off against the Redhawks."

Faulkner moved to 1-1 on the season and will take on Johnson & Wales (Colo.) and Valley City State (N.D.) Saturday afternoon at 2 and 4 central time respectively.