MILLIGAN, Tenn. - Faulkner fought back hard after lopsided opening sets but dropped its opening contests of 2025 on the first day of Milligan Mountain Madness, narrowly falling in five to Shawnee State before taking a sweep at the hands of Oregon Tech.
Shawnee State 3, Faulkner 2 (25-14, 23-25, 25-17, 16-25, 15-11)
SSU got off to a blistering start, tallying almost twice as many kills as the Lady Eagles and outhitting them .310 to -.062 in the opening set to take the 1-0 lead. Faulkner would respond with an advantage of .108 to -.026 in the following frame, taking a 3-0 lead with a block from Kendall Rice and Madison Martin and kills by Rice and Faulkner's SSAC Newcomer of the Year candidate, Kaleigh Moss. After the Bears tied it up 4-4, senior Charlee Jordan responded with two kills and Martin, in her return from injury that cut her 2024 season short, followed with an ace. A Chasity Broadhead ace and a block from Riley Deem and Allyse Rudolph followed SSU errors to make the Eagle lead 11-6.
With each push by Faulkner to put the set away, the Bears came back to tie it at 12 and 17. Two Deem kills and a Broadhead ace put the Lady Eagles up 22-19, but the next four rallies triggered a 23-22 Shawnee State lead and a Faulkner timeout. Moss tied it up out of the break and Jaylyn Strength served up an ace for set point before Martin finished off the frame following a SSU timeout.
Though closer, the third set followed a similar script to the first as the Bears retook the match lead with five more kills and five fewer miscues than Faulkner. The Lady Eagles would turn those tables on Shawnee State, however, outhitting the latter .520 to .103 in the fourth period. As in the second, the first three points went to Faulkner, this time via attack three errors, one of them via a block split by Jordan and Martin. Jordan and Ellie Cyr scored kills to go up 5-1 before a Moss kill, an ace by Anna Prempramot and a Bear error resulted in an 8-2 Faulkner lead. After a back-and-forth pace, the Lady Eagles broke off a 7-1 run off four Moss kills with another from Deem and a block by the pair to bring it to set point. A pair of errors delayed the 2-2 tie, but Moss finished off the frame with one more kill.
The Bears stomped on the gas in the final period, jumping out to a 13-2 lead that put them two points away from the win. Three errors got the Lady Eagles back into it, however, as did another that put the ball back in Faulkner's hands following match point by Shawnee State. Jordan scored two kills around one by Rudolph. After another SSU attack error, Deem and Rudolph converged on a block to truly put the Bears on edge, triggering a timeout that the latter channeled into the winning kill.
Moss did yeoman's work in her Faulkner debut, as the freshman from Baker, Fla., led the team with 12 kills. Martin was next in line with 11 kills, in addition to four digs and two block assists. Jordan and Deem each tallied eight kills. Jordan added nine digs and two blocks. Deem got off to an explosive start to follow her SSAC All-Freshman campaign in 2024, leading the team in hitting as she connected on a .368 percentage to go with eight kills and four block assists. 2024 Second Team All-SSAC honoree and Faulkner's SSAC Returner of the Year, setter Mandi Hart, racked up 24 assists and 17 scoops. Fellow setter Broadhead registered a double-double herself with 13 assists and 11 digs as well as two aces. Strength added 11 digs and five dimes.
Oregon Tech 3, Faulkner 0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-13)
The Owls from Klamath Falls, Ore., thoroughly dominated the first set, outhitting Faulkner .619 to .000 with 13 kills on just 21 swings. The Lady Eagles responded with a narrow offensive advantage in the following frame, taking a 3-0 lead with a Hart ace and solo blocks from Rudolph and Martin. Kills from Deem and Moss combined with an ace by Addison Smith brought the lead to 9-5. Tech responded to each Faulkner push, tying it at 17 and 21 after trailing by five and three respectively, before taking its first lead of the period at 23-22 and responding to a tying error with the final two points off Eagle miscues. That was as close as Faulkner would get, as the Owls outhit the former .333 to -.037 in the final set.
Faulkner has an early start to Day Two of the tournament tomorrow morning, as it takes on Union Commonwealth at 9 am before some time to rest as it prepares for host Milligan at 2 pm.
