Faulkner University

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A pair of milestones were reached on the first day of the SSAC Volleyball Championship as Alyssa Stagner surpassed a career 3700 assists and Molly Presnell hit 400 kills on the season as the Lady Eagles set up essentially a quarterfinal matchup with Mobile after falling to Blue Mountain in the morning and sweeping Middle Georgia in the afternoon.

Blue Mountain 3, Faulkner 0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-18)

The regular season champs were firing on all cylinders trying to defend their conference tournament title as the Lady Eagles could not slow them down in a three set defeat. The Toppers attack hit a blistering .432 percentage to Faulkner's .162. 

After scuffling through the first two sets, the Lady Eagles started the third set strong and led 16-13 but the receiving votes Toppers scored nine straight points to create the separation for the sweep. 

Alyssa Stagner's team-high 13 assists pushed her to 3700 career helpers and third in program history. She also led the squad with 7 digs. 

Molly Presnell paced the Lady Eagle offense with seven kills and Hannah Bryan added six. Victoria Wheeler had three total blocks including a solo. 

Faulkner 3, Middle Georgia 0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-10) 

Faulkner cruised past the Knights after a first set late scare to pick up an important pool play win with a strong defensive performance and strong attack. The Lady Eagles hit .340 over their 48 kills and dug 53 Middle Georgia attacks, holding them to an .065 clip. 

A 19-11 lead in the first set put Faulkner seemingly comfortably and easily to a match lead, but the Knights charged back eventually cutting the lead to 23-21 but Bryan's kill forced the side out where she aced set point. 

A 14-2 run in the second pushed Faulkner to a comfortable 2-0 lead as the team hit an outrageous 18 kills at a .516 clip. The hot hands continued in the third with a .520 attack percentage on 15 kills.

Presnell was simply unstoppable in the win, hitting 17 kills over three sets for a .500 attack percentage, surpassing 400 kills on the season. She completed another double-double with 16 digs. Bryan led the team with 16 digs and added nine kills at a .300 percentage. Alexis McInroy dug 11 attacks. 

Stagner's 17 assists led the team as Hart added 15. 

The Lady Eagles face Mobile with a spot in the semifinals on the line Friday at 1:30 p.m. The winner will take the second seed in the pool and face the winner of Pool B in the semifinals.
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