MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Second-seeded Bethel (30-5) rallied out of a pair of late set deficits in the first two bouts of this morning's Southern States Athletic Conference tournament semifinal matchup against fourth-seeded Faulkner to earn the straight-sets victory 27-25, 29-27, 25-20 here at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex downtown.

Set 1 was a heated, back and forth battle through its entirety with Bethel finally inching ahead after staring down the the barrel of set-point while in serve receive.

Faulkner again led deep in the second set, but spirited play switched the control twice with the Lady Eagles finally in the driver's seat at 23-21. Bethel clawed its way back in front, however, and pushed the contest into another extended-point win.

Set three was close early on, but the Lady Eagles soon found themselves behind by the widest margin of the match at eight points as the midway mark approached. Faulkner found the furry once gain and managed to trim at deficit to three points, but could never narrow it completely.

Alysa Klassen led the Lady Eagle offense with 11 kills, hitting a court-high .478, and was second defensively with five total blocks. Klassen was later named to the SSAC all-tournament team.

Tori Marchant followed with nine kills, hitting .292, and had a court-high six total blocks.

Klassen and Marchant were in a three-way tie with Coastal Georgia's Allie Shannon for tournament blocks-per-set led with 1.4. The Faulkner middles tied for third overall with 20 blocks each.

Cassie Bailie led the back row with 14 digs and added eight kills. Bailie was fifth in digs per set in the tournament with 4.3.

Jordan Linder was second with 13 digs followed by libero Julianne Wilkes who had 10. Linder was second in the tournament in aces per set with 0.5.

Katie Musser offered up 27 assists and also had 10 digs while Krystalynn Leomiti had 10 assists, five digs and three block assists. Musser ranked fifth in the post season with 7.4 assists per set.

Bethel later fell 3-1 to Coastal Georgia in the championship.

Faulkner closed the season with a 20-16 overall recored and a run into its fourth straight semifinal appearance.