New Orleans, La. - The Lady Eagles traveled to Loyola for SSAC play on Friday night. The Wolf Pack jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match. Faulkner took the third set to push the match to extra sets. Loyola took the match in the fourth set to win 3-1 over the Lady Eagles.
Loyola 3, Faulkner 1 (25-19, 27-25, 22-25, 25-17)
The Lady Eagles and the Wolf Pack traded points back and forth in the first set. Faulkner found themselves up after 11-6 after a couple of early 4-0 runs. Loyola took the lead after six straight points to lead the Lady Eagles 13-12. From there, the game continued to be close until Loyola took a huge lead behind an 8-0 run. The Lady Eagles found themselves down 23-16 but continued to battle with some late points, but the Wolf Pack took set one 25-19 to avoid a Lady Eagles comeback.
In set two, the match continued to be a tough battle between the Lady Eagles and Wolf Pack. The two teams went on several runs, taking leads from each other throughout the set. Late in the match, the Wolf Pack had set point 24-23. The Lady Eagles were not ready to end the set, though. Ellie Cyr sent the set to extras off two kills to put Faulkner up 25-24. Loyola took a timeout to gather themselves, and out of the break, they quickly took set two with three straight points to avoid another Lady Eagles comeback. The final score of set two stood at 27-25, and Loyola headed into the third set up 2-0.
In the third set, the Lady Eagles took the set 25-22. The two teams continued to battle back and forth through sets of runs. The Lady Eagles earned the third set behind big-time kills from the Lady Eagles' attackers. Faulkner's defense set the Lady Eagles up to be able to push the match to four sets.
The Wolf Pack took the fourth set, and the match despite the pressure, the Lady Eagles continued to apply throughout the entire match. The Wolf Pack earned the 3-1 win over Faulkner in the fourth set 25-17.
Leaders for the Lady Eagles were Rhiannon Keck, who had 10 kills. Ellie Cyr and Hannah Bryan had nine kills each. Three Lady Eagles had double-digit digs. Ashton McCullar had 18. Ellie Cyr had 12, and Hannah Bryan had 11. Mandi Hart led the way in assists with 25. Cyr had double-digit assists as well, with 13 giving her a double-double.
The Lady Eagles return to action on Saturday, Sept. 21, at William Carey for a 2 p.m. first serve.
