MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner picked up a pair of local wins last night at Huntingdon defeating Tuskegee in straight sets and the hosting Hawks in a dramatic five to maintain the dominant run over the Hawks Tuesday night at Catherine Dixon Roland Arena.
FAULKNER 3, TUSKEGEE 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-19)
Just two weeks after an earlier matchup at Tuskegee, Faulkner picked up the same result against the Golden Tigers once again. This match fared a little closer with Faulkner having to dig down deep to take the first two sets.
Faulkner seemingly had a comfortable first set lead at 21-12 before the Golden Tigers started a 9-2 run to cut the lead to two. However the Lady Eagle defense coaxed two straight Tuskegee errors to take the first set.
The Lady Eagles stared down a 20-17 deficit but rattled off an 8-1 run to take the set and take a commanding match lead.
Faulkner rolled through the third set on .250 hitting on 18 kills to lead by as much as eight twice to seal the match.
Haven Owings fired 12 kills.
Hannah Bryan added nine kills with 11 digs.
Mandi Hart gathered 20 assists.
Victoria Wheeler had three blocks and
Ashton McCullar led the floor with 16 digs.
FAULKNER 3, HUNTINGDON 2 (23-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-22, 15-12)
The Lady Eagles took its 15th consecutive win against the crosstown foe in one of the more dramatic fashions having to rally from 2-1 down in the match and then 12-10 in the decisive set after an absolutely massive performance from
Haven Owings. Faulkner has not lost to Huntingdon since the cinematic masterpiece, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, was released in 2004.
With their backs on the wall trailing 9-5 in the fourth set, Faulkner fired up an 8-1 run with six kills and a block. However, the Hawks fought back and tied it at 22.
Victoria Wheeler picked up the go-ahead kill and
Haven Owings put the final touch on the set with a kill to end a 3-0 run.
The fifth set sprint featured six lead changes in a hectic finish. After Huntingdon won the first point, Owings got back-to-back kills to take a 2-1 lead. The Hawks won the next four to take a 5-2 lead. Down 8-5,
Julia Rice and
Hannah Bryan each found kills before a pair of HC errors put Faulkner up 9-8. The Hawks took the next three before the teams traded points for Huntingdon to lead 12-10. Wheeler started the run with a kill and was followed by Owings and then two from Bryan before Wheeler ended the match with a block.
Owings was simply unbelievable with a career record night with 20 kills. In those kills, the Wetumpka, Ala. native was dangerously efficient with a .447 attack percentage and just three errors. Her 32 kills on the night totaled a .344 attack percentage in the evening.
Hannah Bryan fired 14 kills which is tied for second best this year for the Crawfordville, Fla. native. She completed the double-double with 13 digs and also picked up three solo blocks.
Charlee Jordan's 11 kills marked the first time this season that the Lady Eagles have had three attackers in double figures.
Victoria Wheeler was very close to double figures as well with nine kills to just one error.
Mandi Hart was sensational with 32 assists and 19 digs, each career highs. The assists were most on the floor and the digs were second between both teams only behind
Ashton McCullar's 20.
Rhi Keck's nine digs was coupled by two aces.
Kolbi Bates added eight digs.
Ellie Cyr had 19 assists and four total blocks.
The Lady Eagles return home for a de facto play-in match Friday night against Middle Georgia State as the winner will make the SSAC tournament as the eight seed and the loser will stay home.
