by Ryan Bartels

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner (16-11) fell to Southern States Athletic Conference rival Bethel (13-16) in both regular season matchups, but the Lady Eagles shined brightest when it mattered most in this morning's 26-24, 25-16, 25-15 victory in the league tournament here at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex.

The first set was virtually a two-point nail-bitter throughout with the fourth-seeded Wildcats controlling the bulk of the tempo early in the contest.

A maddening block, however, eventually catapulted the fifth-seeded Lady Eagles into a slight lead just over mid way through and a back-and-forth battle ensued with Faulkner finally edging the win in extended points.

In similar fashion to yesterday's third round against Mobile, the Lady Eagles dominated out of the gate in Set 2 while the lion's share of Wildcat points came on Faulkner blunders. The similarities, however, ended there.

The birds ratcheted up the defense and pounded away at the pins to gain the 2-0 lead.

The final conflict proved more of the same with Bethel struggling to brew team chemistry while the Lady Eagles seemed to have the outcome on auto pilot. Faulkner dispensed some of its most convincing play of the season, and with that very thing on the line, the timing couldn't be better.

"I was very proud of how the girls played," said head coach Tori Bartels. "I've been proud of them since we entered the tournament. They've made some mistakes, but we've tried a lot of new things and they never let the mistakes defeat them and that's extremely important. The girls are playing with fire and confidence right now. The trick will be maintaining this level of play. If we can do that, we'll continue to be a threat this weekend."

While the team produced just a single double-digit offensive weapon yesterday, three stepped up on the attack this morning.

Sophomore right side Madelyn Cheatham led the way with 12 kills while hitting .320.

First-team all-conference outside hitter Krystalynn Leomiti punched home 10 more while adding nine digs and five block assists.

Faulkner's offense was certainly instrumental in the overall outcome, but it was continued dominance on the defensive front that stole the show.

The Lady Eagles out-blocked the opposition 12 to five and all-freshman middle Kortney Barnes was the cornerstone in that wall. Barnes wrecked havoc on the Wildcats with a court-best eight block assists. Here presence was felt on the flip side as well where she was second on the floor in kills with 11 while hitting .364.

Double-double number 13 made its way into the scorebook for Katie Musser. The second-team all-league setter mirrored her figures in the assist and dig columns with 31 and 13, respectively.

First-team all-SSAC libero Julianne Wilkes again led the rectangle with 20 digs.

Faulkner will next take on Brewton-Parker in the final pool play pairing at 3 p.m. this afternoon. A win, coupled with a Mobile victory over Bethel, would solidify the Lady Eagles' fourth consecutive semifinal appearance, but Bartels refuses to get ahead of the game plan.

"Anything can happen in the conference tournament," she said. "We need to focus on Brewton-Parker and keeping our play elevated. Bethel beat us twice in the regular season and we got the best of them today. Just because we swept the Barons doesn't guarantee us anything. We'll worry about tomorrow then. Right now, we've got another obstacle still in our path."