Macon, Ga. - The Lady Eagles traveled to Middle Georgia State Friday afternoon for the SSAC Volleyball Game of the Week. Faulkner took the match in three over the Knights in a close one. The Knights kept each set within a few points, but the Lady Eagles overcame each battle to pick up the sweep.
Faulkner 3, Middle Georgia State 0 (25-21,25-23,25-22)
The two teams traded points in the first several serves. One team picked up two points, but then the other would answer with a couple of their own until midway through the set when Faulkner went on 8-0 run to lead 17-10.
The Knights halted the slew of points with a pair of points. Faulkner picked up another point after a block from
Riley Deem and
Madison Martin. On the next four serves, the Knights put up four straight points to bring the score within two at 18-16.
Faulkner took a quick timeout to calm the onslaught and out of the timeout, the Lady Eagles downed three more points to push their lead to 21-16. Middle Georgia then answered with three more of their own.
On the next three serves, the Lady Eagles put up another point with a kill from
Charlee Jordan, answered by a point from Middle Georgia. In the third serve,
Victoria Wheeler earned a kill to put Faulkner up 23-20
The Lady Eagles picked up the set point on the next serve. Middle Georgia earned one more point to avoid the end of the set, but on the next serve, Faulkner took the set after another kill from Wheeler. Faulkner won the first set 25-21.
The second set spilled over from set one as the two teams continued where they left off, trading points. In the first six serves, each team picked up three points. Faulkner took the first run after scoring off an ace from
Ellie Cyr and a block from
Madison Martin and
Hannah Bryan. The Lady Eagles led 5-3.
The teams continued to exchange points until Faulkner hit another run, scoring three in a row. Middle Georgia answered with a kill, but the Lady Eagles responded with three more to take a 12-7 lead. The largest lead of the set for Faulkner.
For the next several serves, the Lady Eagles scored in singular points while the Knights answered with a few runs to bring the match within one. The score sat at 23-22 for Faulkner. The Lady Eagles called for a timeout to regroup and strategize the plan to put the set away. Right out of the timeout, the Lady Eagles earned the set point with a kill from
Hannah Bryan.
The Knights earned a point on the next serve after a Faulkner service error. The Lady Eagles quickly ended the set on the next point off an error from the Knights. Faulkner took set two 25-23 and headed to set three looking for the 3-0 sweep.
In the third set, the two teams came out swinging. Each team served up three straight points in the first six serves. The Lady Eagles then took a two-point lead with back-to-back kills from
Rhiannon Keck. The Knights answered with a kill of their own.
Faulkner took their largest lead with a 4-0 run to lead 9-4. Middle Georgia scored a point before Faulkner went on another 4-0 run. From there, they traded points until late in the set when Middle Georgia hit a run of their own with seven straight. Despite the run, the Lady Eagles still led 20-17. Faulkner finally stopped the string of points to push their lead to 21-17.
The Knights drew within two with back-to-back points, but Faulkner pushed it back to three after a kill from
Allyse Rudolph. Middle Georgia tied it up on the next three serves to bring the score to 22 all, with the Knights looking to avoid the sweep. The Lady Eagles quickly ended the set with three points in a row behind two kills from
Riley Deem and an attack error by the Knights. The Lady Eagles took the set 25-22 and earned the sweep in the SSAC Volleyball Game of the Week.
Victoria Wheeler and
Riley Deem led the Lady Eagles in kills with seven a piece. Faulkner saw two players in double digits for assists.
Mandi Hart had 19, while
Ellie Cyr had 12. The Lady Eagles also had two see double figures in digs.
Hannah Bryan had 13 and
Ashton McCullar had 12.
The Lady Eagles return to action on Saturday for their second match of a weekend road trip. They face Brewton-Parker at noon CT for back-to-back SSAC action.
