MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Lady Eagles volleyball team (2-0) started the season off strong today with a pair of victories here on Day 1 of the annual Faulkner Invitational at Tine Davis Gymnasium. Faulkner toppled Freed-Hardeman in straight sets 25-23, 25-13, 25-19 before bailing itself out of an early rut against Tennessee Wesleyan to clinch the 21-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-16 decision.

Utility player Krystalynn Leomiti led Faulkner offensively in the opener and recorded a double-double with 10 kills, hitting .269, and as many digs.

Madelyn Cheatham spearheaded the attack in the second bout with 10 kills while hitting .304. The sophomore also added three digs and a pair of block assists to her totals.

Six-rotation outside hitter Cassie Bailie was tremendous all the way around booking 17 kills while hitting .292 over two matches. She was just a kill shy of recording a double-double against Tennessee Wesleyan and had 19 digs on the afternoon.

Another big contributor up front was newcomer Kortney Barnes who logged 10 kills while leading the way with seven total blocks in the wins.

Setter Katie Musser had a stellar afternoon with 41 assists while adding 13 digs.

Libero Julianne Wilkes led the team in digs with 37 over the two matches, while Ashley Ingwersen offered up 14 and had seven kills over the span.

"All things considered, I like the way things turned out," head coach Tori Bartels said. "While I'm happy that we came away with a pair of wins, we do have a lot of things to work on, most importantly, drastically reducing our errors. We can't have numbers like we had, especially in the hitting percentage column, and expect to be successful down the road. We got the jitters out today, but we need to come focused and controlled tomorrow to continue on the win path."

The victory against Freed-Hardeman was only Bartels' second over her alma matter and former coach Todd Humphrey.

The Lady Eagles return to action tomorrow at 1 p.m. against a talented Webber International team before closing out play against Reinhardt at 5.