Marietta, Ga.- The Lady Eagles traveled to Life University on Saturday afternoon for their final regular-season road match. Faulkner faced the Running Eagles for the second time this season after hosting them at Tine Davis Gymnasium. The Lady Eagles faced earlier this ye tough competition in Life and came away with a 3-0 sweep to tie the season series at 1-1.
Faulkner 3, Life 0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-23)
In set one, The Lady Eagles started the scoring after an attack error from Life. The Running Eagles tied it up after a serving ace on the next serve. Faulkner then went on a 6-0 run to lead by four. Life kept the Lady Eagles from extending their lead with two in a row. Each team traded points on the next five serves before Faulkner scored two in a row behind an Allyse Rudolph Kill and block from Rudolph and Victoria Wheeler.
On the next two serves, Life scored, and Faulkner answered with a kill from Riley Deem. The Running Eagles then took a 6-0 run to tie the set at 13 all. The Lady Eagles took a three-point lead with a kill from Wheeler and two aces. Life answered with a single point before Faulkner took another 3-0 run.
Life took a timeout after the Faulkner run. Out of the timeout, the Running Eagles put two more points to pull back within three, but the Lady Eagles went back up four on the next serve. Life answered with a kill to bring it back within three, but Faulkner put up another three straight to lead 23-17.
Life took another timeout to gather themselves. Out of the timeout, they scored with a kill, but Faulkner responded with a kill of their own from Charlee Jordan.
Life pulled within five on the next serve, but Faulkner earned the set on the next play after an attack error from the Running Eagles. Faulkner picked up set one with a final score of 25-19.
In set two, the Lady Eagles started it out again by scoring first. They earned the first point off a kill from Allyse Rudolph. Life answered with a commanding run of four straight. Faulkner put a stop to the run with a block from Wheeler and Rudolph, but Life answered with a kill.
On the next four serves, Faulkenr scored all four to take a one-point lead. Life tied it up at six, all with a kill but Faulkner took a two point lead after a service error and kill from Bryan. Life then scored five straight to take a three-point lead. Faulkner drew within two after another kill from Jordan but Life upped the ante with two of their own to lead 13-9.
Faulkner took a timeout before they went on a 6-0 run to take the lead back. The Running Eagles kept it close with a kill on the next serve to bring the score to 15-14. Each team scored on the next two plays before Faulkner extended their lead back to three after two errors from the Running Eagles. Life drew within two again after an error from the Lady Eagles to bring the score to 18-16. On the next serve, the Lady Eagles went up three yet again but Life put it back at two after a kill. Faulkner took a four-point lead after two blocks from Rhiannon Keck and Riley Deem.
Life drew within three again before Faulkner pushed it out to a five-point lead. Life then pulled within one after five straight points. Rudolph put the Lady Eagles up two with a kill on the next serve but Life tied it up at 24, all with two kills of their own.
Rudolph put down one more kill to put the Lady Eagles up one. On the next serve, Faulkner took set two after an untimely error from the Running Eagles to win 26-24.
In set three, the Lady Eagles started it out again, scoring with a kill but this time from Victoria Wheeler. Life took the one-point lead with two in a row but Faulkenr took the lead back with three in a row. The Running Eagles then took the lead back with three in a row.
Faulkner tied it up with a kill from Hannah Bryan, but Life took their biggest lead with a 4-0 run to lead 9-5. The Lady Eagles quickly turned it around with five straight to take the lead back, but Life put up three more to swing the lead back in their favor. The Lady Eagles proceeded to tie the set at 12, all with a kill from Rudolph and Deem.
On the next two serves, Life pushed their lead back to two. The Lady Eagles drew within one again before the Running Eagles stretched their lead back to four with three in a row. Faulkner pulled back within three after another kill from Rudolph but the Running Eagles went back up five on the next two plays.
The next six serves saw each team score three to bring the score to 22-17 in favor of the Running Eagles. With the set looking like it was coming to a close and Life sending it to extras, the Lady Eagles pulled within two after three two errors and an ace from Ashton McCullar.
Life went up three yet again after an error from the Lady Eagles, but Faulkner went on a late run with five straight points to pick up the sweep over the Running Eagles. The final score for set three stood at 25-23 and for the match 3-0.
Allyse Rudolph led the Lady Eagles in kills with 11. Ellie Cyr had 15 assists to lead Faulkner. Ashton McCullar and Jaylyn Strength had seven digs each to lead the team.
The Lady Eagles return to action on Friday, Nov. 8, when they host Brewton-Parker for the first match of their last regular season home weekend series. The first serve is set for 6:00 p.m.
