PULASKI, Tenn. - Faulkner (6-8, 1-1 SSAC) fought back hard but narrowly fell in the fourth set in a 3-1 decision (25-13, 25-18, 22-25, 26-24) to UT Southern (5-9, 1-0 SSAC) at the Curry Athletic Complex on Friday night.
The Firehawks dominated the stat sheet, nearly doubling Faulkner's 38 kills with 63 and the visitors' 29 assists with 56 while also outhitting the Lady Eagles .261 to .104. UTS ran away with the first set with 19 kills to Faulkner's seven and hitting .500 on 32 swings to the latter's .100. The second set was only marginally better for Faulkner, as it scored just five less kills than UTS but committed five more errors to lose the hitting battle .273 to .042. The Lady Eagles tied it twice with a 4-0 and 3-0 run before the Firehawks took six in a row to take back control.
Faulkner fought back, starting the third set with a 5-1 lead with kills by Olivia Kelly and Kynsi Hazzard, a block by Hazzard and Emma Hayes and an ace by Jakaya Smith. The Firehawks would tie it 7-all with a 5-1 run and then led 18-12 thanks to a 10-3 run. Faulkner answered with a 10-1 run to take control of the set including two kills by Riley Deem, one by Aubrie Hinson, two blocks shared by Deem and Kelly and a Jo Lundy ace. Smith and Kelly split on a block to go up 23-20 before reaching set point on a service error. Smith closed it out with a kill.
UTS began to methodically take control once again in the fourth, responding to each Faulkner surge with one of its own on the way to a 22-16 lead. However, Faulkner pushed back with an 8-1 run to reach set point, including two Smith kills and one from Hayes, all assisted by Kelly, a solo block by Smith and a split block by Hazzard and Hayes. The last three rallies went the way of the hosts after they called timeout to clinch the win.
Smith and Deem each scored 10 kills. Smith added three blocks, two of them solo, four assists and 15 digs for her sixth double-double of the season, while Deem scored her 10 on 20 attacks with no errors for a .500 day. Hazzard and Hayes scored five and four kills, respectively, with two blocks apiece. Jaylyn Strength tallied 16 digs and Caroline Sticker added 10. Kelly had her second straight double-double, scoring 17 assists and 14 digs to go with three blocks. Chasity Broadhead put up five assists and two aces, as she, Lundy and Hazzard each dug four attacks.
The Lady Eagles play at Blue Mountain Christian tomorrow at 1 pm.
