MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Coming off a resounding home loss to William Carey, the No. 1 team in the conference, Faulkner (11-5, 2-2 SSAC) was not going down that road again against third-place Mobile (10-5, 3-1 SSAC), a team the hosts had fallen short against in the programs' last four meetings. The Lady Eagles knocked off the Rams 3-1 (32-30, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21) at Tine Davis Gymnasium on Thursday night to finish off its fourth straight home match in the first week of conference play.
"Mobile's a great team," Coach
Tori Renda said of her team's accomplishment. "They're a team that is really hot in the league right now and has swept Blue Mountain and Loyola, two of the top teams behind William Carey in the league. For us to come in and take a big W tonight is huge for our confidence and our chemistry, and just knowing that we can do anything in the conference."
At the top of the stat sheet once again was
Molly Presnell, who fired 14 kills with 13 digs, good for her 10th double-double of the season, and half of her team's six aces.
Haven Owings was not far behind with 13 kills of her own.
Hannah Bryan tallied 13 digs and 11 kills, and
Victoria Wheeler claimed eight kills without a single error.
Alyssa Stagner got 23 assists and 15 scoops for her seventh double-double this fall.
Mandi Hart added 17 assists.
The two sides treated the fans to a shootout of a first set, with enough scores and runs traded such that neither team was ever ahead by more than three points and seven set points were overcome in the frame. The first trade was of service errors to open the match. A Presnell kill off a Stagner assist, a play that foreshadowed the statistical performances of the night, and an ace by
Macy Kemper put Faulkner ahead 3-1 before a 4-0 run gave Mobile its first lead of the day. Down 12-9, kills from Wheeler and Owings bookended three errors for a run of five consecutive scores that restored a Faulkner lead. The run marked the young contest's fifth lead change. After exchanging points, an Aleah Kennedy kill, a Bryan error and a Layton Adams ace gave Mobile the lead back, and with the score later at 18-18, the Rams added three more points before the home team pulled back to within one.
The first set point came via Jordan Wood's kill that gave her team a 24-22 lead. However, a kill from Presnell and an Adams error extended the period. Another shot from the hand of Presnell tied it at 25 all following a set error, and an error by Mobile's Brinkley Hearn and a
Julia Rice kill pulled Faulkner even at 26 and 27. Another set error turned the tables on the visitors before they tied it 28-28 on an Owings miscue. Kills by Corinna Porch-Maxey and Abby Andrews undid two more Eagle set points from Owings and Presnell, respectively. Wheeler came up big again with a point off the Bryan assist for the 31-30 lead, and the latter, determined to not see her team lose another opportunity, finished what she started with the kill in likely the biggest moment of the night after the assist from Hart to stake Faulkner's claim to the marathon set.
"The biggest thing we've been focusing on all week, honestly, has been mentality," Renda said. "Staying in the moment, being present in what's going on, not the ball behind, not the ball in front of us, but being present in the moment and focusing on a winning mentality."
The Lady Eagles continued that focus in the second frame, as they began to take charge of a tied contest with four straight points to go up 9-5. Presnell killed to begin the run and finished it with an ace. Two errors, one after a block by Rice and Bryan, kept Presnell behind the line until she made the second play. After the teams traded runs for a spell, Faulkner took a 20-13 lead, its largest of the night, thanks to a pair of errors and Presnell's third ace. A Hearn kill and two Eagle errors got the trio of points back for the visitors, but the hosts scored five of the last six to claim a 2-0 match lead. Hart and Owings kills sandwiched an ace by Bryan and preceded another kill by Hearn. A Porch-Maxey error gave Faulkner set point and Stagner provided the ace to capitalize on it.
Faulkner surrendered four of the first five scores in the penultimate set, and sustained Mobile runs was too much to overcome despite generating responses to almost all of them. A combined pair of kills from Andrews and Adams and two Eagle errors comprised the final four points of the period.
The fourth set also began as a back-and-forth affair. Clinging to a 10-9 advantage, a 5-0 run gave the Lady Eagles breathing room. Kills from Owings and
Alexis McInroy started it and a block by McInroy and Wheeler provided the third point and the first of three errors in the span. Eventually trailing 20-14, Mobile put forth a 6-1 run to get within a point, a difference that stood after scores from McInroy and Hearn. However, the clincher began on a block from
Mallory Black and Owings that resulted in a Ram error. Wheeler and Owings followed up with solo kills to put this one in the books.
Faulkner does not have much time to celebrate the win, as it heads to Pulaski, Tenn., for a tri-match on Saturday. The Lady Eagles play Tennessee Southern, the event host, before taking on Fisk for the second time this season in Tennessee. Faulkner swept the latter in the FHU Labor Day Invitational in Henderson.
"Fisk is a very athletic team, so we're going to have to maintain discipline with them," Renda said. "With UT Southern, I think we're going to have to just play hard."
