by Ryan Bartels

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A flat Faulkner squad (9-4, 2-1 SSAC) couldn't muster the spark it needed against Southern States Athletic Conference rival Bethel (7-7, 3-0 SSAC) here at Tine Davis Gymnasium this evening. The home side squeaked by the visitors in the opening game, but a smart and fiery Wildcat team ultimately gained the win 24-26, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23.

A handful of hitting errors late in Set 1 nearly cost Faulkner the springboard win, but a persistent attitude and smart execution did eventually cut out an extended-point victory for the Lady Eagles.

Energy, or lack there of, deflated Faulkner in the second set and a 10-0 run by the Wildcats behind the serving arm of Daisy Liljenquist in Set 3 simply complicated matters further. The visitors bailed themselves out of a jam at 11-8 and never relinquished control of the lead to book their second win.

The Lady Eagles found themselves in all too familiar territory heading in the the fourth bout trailing 2-1 against a conference foe. A pair of Bethel serving sprees forced an 11-4 surge in the final showdown knocking the birds back a peg, and despite a few optimistic runs, Faulkner was never able to generate a rhythm.

"We didn't have it tonight," said head coach Tori Bartels, "and if I'm honest, we were lucky to get the first set. We were relying too much on calls instead of making points happen and we didn't correct the mistakes that were really hurting us. We didn't have the energy we had in our last two SSAC matches and the great things we did weren't enough to keep us going."

The major culprits on the Wildcat side of play were Liljenquist and Chloe Hooper who connected on 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Both players hit .400 or better and Liljenquist earned the double-double by adding 16 digs.

Faulkner was spearheaded by Krystalynn Leomiti and Madelyn Cheatham with nine kills each. Leomiti hit .500 on the night and had four digs and two block assists, while Cheatham offered up five digs and a block assist.

Jade Brown followed with eight kills and a block assist.

Middle blockers Kortney Barnes and Tori Marchant each had six kills and recorded four and two total blocks, respectively.

Katie Musser secured her second double-double of the season with 28 assists and 10 digs. Fellow setter Ariana Vannoy contributed 10 assists and nine digs.

The back row was anchored by libero Julianne Wilkes with 27 digs and Cassie Bailie followed with 13.

Faulkner will look to rebound tomorrow afternoon against Martin Methodist at Tine Davis Gymnasium. The league battle is slated for 2 p.m.