MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A .409 attack percentage led to a clean sweep of Tennessee Wesleyan before a spirited trial with the Fire fell just shy of going the distance as the Lady Eagles went 1-1 Friday night in the home openers at Tine Davis Gymnasium on the first day of the 21st Annual Faulkner Invitational.

Faulkner 3, Tennessee Wesleyan 0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-13)

The first set can be summarized in two words: Julia Rice. The middle blocker was simply electric in the first set, killing all seven swings and blocking two Bulldog attacks. Her effort highlighted the whole squad's absurd start at home. As a team, Faulkner barraged the Bulldogs with 18 kills to just 2 errors on 31 efforts for a .516 attack percentage while recording two aces and three blocks. An 8-1 run took a 9-8 set to 17-9 with three kills a piece from Rice and Hannah Bryan. Of the last eight points scored by Faulkner, seven were either kills or blocks, sending Tine Davis Gymnasium into a frenzy. 

A slow start to the second frame turned in favor of the hosts after kills from Bryan and Alysa Vinson turned into a 5-0 run with three consecutive Tennessee Wesleyan errors. A 6-0 run pushed a three-point advantage into a 20-11 lead after turning a Bulldog service error into an ace and four kills, with back-to-back kills from Alexis McInroy.

Leading 8-7 in the third, Vinson took over serving four aces including a staggering triplet of unreturnable serves in an 8-0 run that put the Appalachian Athletic Conference side out of the match. The stanza was part of a 14-2 run. 

Rice ended the match with 13 kills on 17 swings, 2 assists, an ace, four blocks and a dig. Bryan was excellent as well on the attack with 11 put-downs on 18 swings. The duo combined to hit .628 with the bulkload of the attack. Haven Owings's seven kills was good for third on the squad. Mallory Black and Alyssa Stagner each finished with a .500 attack percentage on more than five swings. Altogether, four Lady Eagles recorded three or more kills with an attack percentage at or above .500.
McInroy's 16 digs led the floor with Vinson pacing right behind at 11 with five aces. Stagner ended one dig shy of a 35 assist double-double. 

Southeastern 3, Faulkner 1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-17, 25-23)

331 attacks in 181 points ended with the Fire taking the road victory in an energetic nightcap battle. The Lady Eagles took unlucky results in stride and kept the next-ball mentality to stay in the battle after falling behind by five twice in the first set to cut the deficit to two before dropping the frame. 

Sydney Cao put Southeastern in a great position early in the first set with three kills on four points to turn a tie to a four-point Fire lead. Two Rice aces alternated with kills from Owings and McInroy pushed Faulkner into the lead at 12-11, but the fate of the second set was far from determined. The lead would change four times with nine ties from that point on before Owings and McInroy, once again, combined to give Faulkner a two-point lead it would not surrender at 22-20. Black, Bryan and Rice wrapped up the set with kills in a four point stretch. 
Despite trailing by seven, nine and 11 points at various points early in the third following a 7-0 Fire start, Faulkner refused to go quietly into the fourth set. Trailing 22-12, it would have been very easy to turn attention towards the fourth, but two Stagner aces and a kill from Jordan Stewart and Vinson started momentum that carried into the fourth, despite being too far behind to catch up. 

The fourth set proved to be one of the most entertaining of the Faulkner Invitational. Five lead changes and 12 ties kept both benches and the crowd raucously into the match as the difference never passed three. However, a service error gave Southeastern match point before a Lady Eagle attack error ended the match.

Bryan was phenomenal again, firing 12 kills and completed her double-double with 11 digs. Rice and Owings each had eight kills with Rice adding four blocks, leading the team on the defensive net. Stagner led the squad in both sets and digs with 35 and 17, respectively. Vinson and Sarah-Gracen Watts had 15 scoops apiece. Rice, Stagner and Bryan each had two aces. 

Cao led the way for the Fire with an eye-popping 21 kills and 19 digs, leading the floor in both categories. Five players had double-digit digs for Southeastern. 

Faulkner wraps up its Invitational Saturday with matches at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. against Warner and Freed-Hardeman. It will be the fourth meeting with the Royals and the fifteenth against the Lady Lions.