by Ryan Bartels

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Faulkner (10-8, 4-4 SSAC) faced a serious uphill battle when it took on William Carey (13-10, 4-5 SSAC) while down two starters here in tonight's Southern States Athletic Conference rematch. The Lady Eagles outlasted the Crusaders 3-2 in the previous showdown this season, but the home team capitalized on big Faulkner weaknesses this evening to even the series with the 25-13, 25-23, 12-25, 25-17 victory.

The visitors spent the bulk of the opening set trying to get comfortable with their new rotation while WCU bolted to a 12-point knockout.

The Lady Eagles tweaked what they could and found a more aggressive rhythm in the neck-and-neck second set before securing the lone win in the third where Faulkner never trailed.

The Crusaders erupted with a lopsided 14-3 explosion out of the gate in the final bout, but the Lady Eagles refused to surrender. Faulkner hammered back with one of its most impressive runs of the year, forcing the game into a dead heat at the 17-point marker.

That fire, unfortunately, couldn't be sustained longer and WCU snapped the impressive rally with eight straight points to secure the match.

Faulkner was without key starters Krystalynn Leomiti and Ariana Vannoy in addition to hitter Jade Brown. Leomiti is currently the team kill leader while Vannoy traditionally anchors half of the setting duo in the 6-2 system. All three athletes are being withheld from play for violating team rules.

"They identified our obvious weaknesses and even though the girls played extremely hard, there was little we could do to push the match further," said head coach Tori Bartels. "We did a lot of very good things while facing adversity and I'm very proud of how hard this team worked as a unit and for the confidence they demonstrated tonight."

The statistical numbers also agree with Bartels' statement. The offensive and defensive execution was so even-keeled that no one Faulkner player carried the weight alone.

Madelyn Cheatham led the front row assault with nine kills.

Kortney Barnes and Kirsten Carter each added eight kills to the tally will hitting .353 and .333, respectively. The two also accounted for eight total blocks with five and three assists, respectively.

Tori Marchant contributed seven kills while adding eight digs and three block assists.

The back row was anchored by libero Julianne Wilkes who accounted for 18 digs, while Cassie Bailie and Katie Musser each added 13 more.

Musser fed the arsenal inside tonight's 5-1 system and had 31 assists to book the double-double.

Faulkner will take on Loyola in SSAC action tomorrow in New Orleans at noon. The Eagles outpaced the Wolfpack 3-2 earlier this season. Faulkner will wrap up the weekend with a match against SUNO at 2 p.m. following the Loyola contest.