MACON, Ga. - A first set comeback fueled a straight sets sweep Friday night in Macon, Ga. as the Lady Eagles took a 26-24, 25-14, 25-20 decision over Middle Georgia State for the first road victory and first SSAC win of the year.
After back-to-back kills from Lauryn Whittlesley and back-to-back aces from Beau Houston, the Lady Eagles had their backs against the wall in the first set down 19-15. A service error gave Faulkner a crucial side out before the senior leadership took over and brought the set back to a one point difference as
Hannah Bryan found two kills and
Julia Rice another in a 4-2 run. However, the Knights countered back with back-to-back points to make it 23-20.
Victoria Wheeler and
Charlee Jordan went on a 3-0 run between the duo with Wheeler getting a kill and a block around Jordan's kill. At 23-all, the hosts broke serve and set up set point, one point from winning just the second set Middle Georgia has taken against the Lady Eagles since 2019.
Victoria Wheeler's kill broke serve back again and tied the set at 24-all before two attack errors from the Knights completed the comeback for Faulkner.
The first set momentum rolled straight into the second set as Faulkner rattled off seven straight points to take an 8-2 lead and after a couple of Knight points, the guests followed with five more in a row to take a commanding lead in the set and never looked back. The Lady Eagles hit .303 in the set with a fairly clean set with just two attack errors to 12 kills.
In the third set, while Faulkner hit its highest attack percentage of the evening, the set remained close as Middle Georgia actually led 14-13 before the Lady Eagles rattled off a 10-2 run, finding points in six different ways, with an opposition service error, five kills, an ace, an opponent attack error out of play, an opponent bad set and a block.
Bryan was strong in her first match in almost a month with a team-high nine kills at a .316 clip, an ace and six digs. Jordan had eight, Wheeler seven, Owings six and Rice five as seven different Lady Eagles had multiple kills on the evening.
Jaylyn Strength led the team with a pair of aces and Owings a pair of blocks to pace the defense.
Mandi Hart's 18 and
Ellie Cyr's 13 assists led the category.
Ashton McCullar was stellar on the backline tonight, setting a three-set Faulkner career high with 19 kills, the most in any match for her that did not go five sets.
Faulkner improved its win streak against Middle Georgia to 12 matches and has dropped just three sets in those contests and is 14-1 all-time against the Knights.
The Lady Eagles stay in Georgia and head to Mount Vernon to take on Brewton-Parker Saturday at noon central.
