MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Faulkner (9-19, 3-13 SSAC) fought back to take the second set and nearly force a fifth, but UT Southern (14-10, 8-8 SSAC) pulled away for the 3-1 win (25-21, 20-25, 25-19, 26-24) at Tine Davis Gymnasium on Saturday. The Firehawks finished off the regular season sweep starting with a reverse sweep in Pulaski last month.
UTS won the offensive battle .284 to .174 with 61 kills to Faulkner's 48 even while using just eight players. The margin of victory was narrower because of the categories the Lady Eagles won, taking aces 6-4 and blocks 9-6.
A 5-0 run by UTS ended the lone lead Faulkner held in the opening set at 3-1, though the latter tied it three more times before the last three rallies went to the former. The second set went the opposite way, as the Firehawks opened with a 5-1 lead, but a 5-1 Faulkner run gave the hosts their first lead of the frame. A 4-0 span put the Lady Eagles ahead 16-11, and they held off UTS from there to tie up the match. Faulkner had four less kills than UTS in the set but half as many errors to outhit the Firehawks .172 to .152.
The Lady Eagles opened the third period with another 3-1 lead before UTS tied it and the teams traded scores. Tied 10-10, the latter broke off an 8-0 run that helped it tuck away the frame despite giving up a late 4-0 run with set point.
The Firehawks scored on the first three rallies of the fourth set before Faulkner tied it once again while the teams traded points and runs. Trailing 12-10, freshman Kaleigh Moss took over the match in an effort to save the day for her seniors. Four of the next five Faulkner points were scored on her kills, which put her team ahead by two. UTS scored the next three points to retake the lead before Coach Tori Renda used her first timeout, and the Lady Eagles went ahead 22-20 on a 4-1 run.
The Firehawks tied it once again at 23 before Faulkner hit set point with another Moss kill. Ashlee Kraft then took over the match, scoring the last three points as her last two sandwiched a Faulkner timeout in an attempt to regroup, finalizing the win for her team and her match-leading 16-kill performance as one of three Firehawks with double-digit kills and four with double-digit digs.
In a glimpse of the program's future on this Senior Day, Moss led the team with 14 kills to go with three block assists. Madison Martin led the Lady Eagles with eight total blocks with eight kills. Allyse Rudolph and Riley Deem added six and five kills, respectively. Addison Smith served a pair of aces.
As for the seniors, Charlee Jordan led the group with nine kills on .316 hitting. Kendall Rice scored four kills and four blocks. The senior setter duo of Mandi Hart and Ellie Cyr dished out 23 and 20 assists, respectively. Kolbi Bates tied junior libero Jaylyn Strength for the team lead with 11 digs.
The Lady Eagles sneak into the SSAC tournament field as the No. 8-seed in Pool A along with three of the last four conference opponents they faced this regular season, all foes that registered season sweeps of Faulkner. Faulkner takes on 4-seed Blue Mountain Christian at 11:30 am and 5-seed UT Southern at 2 pm on Thursday, Nov. 13 before wrapping up pool play on the 14th versus top-seeded and No. 22 Mobile at 11 am. The winner of each pool plays for the conference title and the automatic bid for the national tournament that Saturday at 2 pm. The tournament takes place at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl in downtown Montgomery.
