MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner (16-6, 6-2 SSAC) took down Talladega (8-9, 2-6 SSAC) in straight sets (25-14, 25-17, 25-16) thanks to aggressive blocking at Tine Davis Gymnasium on Saturday. The Eagles held the Tornadoes' hitting percentage below .100 for the match and in each of the final two sets. Meanwhile, the Lady Eagle offense maintained a .312 percentage.

Faulkner dominated every aspect of the stat sheet on the afternoon, sweeping the categories of kills and blocks 41-26 and 7-3, respectively. Of the 41, Molly Presnell racked up 14 kills with a hitting percentage of .462 to cap off a .421 weekend. Victoria Wheeler led the team with five blocks, three of which were assisted and two were solo. 

"One of the things we talked about with Talladega especially is that they are extremely athletic and we needed to be disciplined in what we knew how to do," Coach Tori Renda said. "And that was blocking, getting close, getting our hands across the net and letting them hit into us."

Alyssa Stagner carried the Lady Eagles in assists with 22. Alexis McInroy headed the team's dig count with eight. Hannah Bryan also had an impact with seven kills and six digs. Mandi Hart led the team in aces while also having ten assists. 

Talladega struck first in the first set, but Wheeler and Presnell answered back with two kills. The Tornadoes didn't go away, rallying to eventually take a 9-7 lead. The Lady Eagles secured the lead, though, with a 5-0 run started by a service error and completed with four combined kills from Owings, Charlee Jordan and Mallory Black. With a 19-14 lead, the Lady Eagles finished out the set with a 6-0 run, highlighted by two aces from Hart.

Down 2-1 in the second set, Faulkner got its footing by scoring six of the next seven points. Holding a 10-7 lead, the Lady Eagles stretched their lead further by registering six of seven points once again. Black concluded the frame with a kill to put her team ahead 2-0.

In the third set, Talladega tied the game at 8-8 thanks to three Eagle errors. The teams traded points for a while until a massive 10-0 run from Faulkner put the hosts in the driver's seat with a 20-10 lead. A service error shifted momentum to the Eagles before five combined kills from Presnell, Bryan and Stagner and an ace by Kolbi Bates. After another trade of points, the Tornadoes pulled the margin to eight before an error concluded the game. 

"Today I thought we did a really good job of handling an athletic team that is reactionary in their play," Renda said. "It doesn't always mean that it is traditional volleyball in a sense, but we handled that very well by still being able to make aggressive attacks out of system. I think our team has an uncanny ability that anybody can step in and set the second ball and it still is producing a kill. In fact, I would say that half of our kills today were out of system balls."

The victory marks 11 wins over the Tornadoes in as many tries and its eighth sweep in the series. The Lady Eagles stay home for another conference game against Loyola on October 4. 

"That's our fourth straight conference win, and confidence is key in this league," Renda said. "I think the top four to five teams in this league could easily win it. We are all very evenly matched and with the exception of William Carey, we've all beaten each other one way or the other. So, I think us having that confidence going into Loyola on Tuesday will give us an edge." Read Full Article