Faulkner concluded its 2019 campaign Friday in the SSAC Volleyball Championship with a pair of 3-1 losses to Bethel (25-14, 14-25, 25-18, 25-18) and Florida College (25-27, 25-16, 25-21, 25-23).

Bethel 3, Faulkner 1

Day two of the conference tournament for Faulkner opened with a matchup between the two Pool B teams that won their Thursday matches. The Wildcats bolted to a 6-1 lead in the opening frame before the Lady Eagles drew within one at 8-7, but could not scratch to a tie as Bethel sparked an 11-2 run to pull away with six kills, two blocks and an ace. Faulkner returned the favor in the second set, flipping a 7-4 deficit to a 16-8 avantage to cruise to a tied match. The defending conference champions hit .344 in the set while holding the Wildcats to just .079.

While tied at 15 and one set a piece, Bethel's attack proved its prowess as it found six kills in the next eight points to create the separation to send Faulkner down 2-1.

The Lady Eagles jumped to a 8-5 lead in set four before the Wildcats flipped it to a 11-8 deficit with six consecutive kills. Sarah-Gracen Watts (SO/Pike Road, Ala.)'s service ace leveled the score at 13 but Faulkner could not take the lead again, coming close with 19-17 scoreline at one point.

Florida College 3, Faulkner 1

In a de facto play-in game to the semifinals, the Lady Eagles jumped to an 21-12 lead but the Falcons swooped back into the the set, forcing extra points and controlling the match from that point on. The match proved to be a block party with the teams combining for 17 blocks in the four set affair with Faulkner holding control in the race with 11.

Ashley Ingwersen (SR/Huntsville, Ala.)'s kill opened the match and was followed with seven Florida College errors over the next nine points. The Falcons cut it down to a one point deficit twice, but Faulkner capitalized on two kills and two blocks to take the lead to the aforementioned 21-12 score. Alysa Vinson (SO/Pike Road, Ala.) staved off set point at 24-23 Florida College with a kill. Ingwersen stopped the next Falcon set point chance with a kill before hitting the final kill of the set.  

A 14-12 Faulkner lead in the second set turned into a 22-14 deficit as Emma Westra served nine straight Florida College points power a 13-2 run to close the set for the sixth seed. Westra picked up where she left off in set three hitting seven consecutive service points after the Falcons broke the Alyssa Stagner (SO/Sneads, Fla.)'s first serve of the set to take an 8-0 lead, continuing the run to 21-2 between the two sets. Faulkner would get no closer than four for most of the remainder of the set until a late 9-3 run cut the deficit to just three at 24-21, but a Florida College kill on the next point concluded the third set.

The fourth set saw the most back-and-forth with several lead changes and ties as late as 23-all but two attack errors from Faulkner ended the match.

Alexis McInroy (FR/Elberta, Ala.) turned in one of her best days of her career with 18 kills and nine blocks between the two matches. Julianne Wilkes (SR/Deatsville, Ala.) concluded her decorated career with 46 digs and three aces in eight sets. Barnes recorded seven assisted blocks and one solo. Stagner picked up 47 assists and 29 digs on the day. Mallory Black (SO/Murfreesboro, Tenn.) tallied 16 kills and 10 assisted blocks. Vinson recorded 12 kills and 24 assists.

The Lady Eagles finish with a 13-17 record.