HENDERSON, Tenn. - Faulkner Volleyball (4-6) traveled to the campus of Church of Christ sister school Freed-Hardeman for a two-day tournament looking to rid itself of the bad taste from a 1-5 start and a 1-3 weekend at home in the Faulkner Invitational. The Lady Eagles did just that, flipping the script completely with a 3-1 weekend including a thrilling five-set win over the host Lady Lions, the program for which Head Coach Tori Renda competed, marking just the fifth win over FHU in 18 meetings and the Lady Eagles' second win in Henderson in program history. All the wins have come under the watchful eye of Renda.
FAULKNER 3, TOUGALOO 0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-10)
Faulkner began its trek to get its season back on track with a sweep of Tougaloo (0-6). The Lady Eagles logged their most productive offensive outing of the season with a .395 mark on 41 kills, including a .400 mark in the first set with 15 kills to just three errors and a .625 second set with 13 hits and zero errors. They tallied 13 kills in the final frame as well, while keeping the Bulldogs from reaching that total for the entire match, allowing only nine kills.
After allowing those nine total kills on .042 and .250 hitting in the first and second periods, the Eagle defense didn't allow a single kill in the final frame and forced seven miscues for a -.438 set percentage and -.058 mark for the match. Only three Bulldog players had a hitting percentage above 0.0, and none finished with more than three kills. Faulkner also tallied 38 assists to just seven for Tougaloo and also dominated serve-receive with 14 aces to just six.
Jakaya Smith racked up 12 kills on .474 hitting while serving up five aces and scooping seven attacks. Riley Deem scored nine kills on .500 hitting. Madison Martin and Emma Hayes each put up five kills, and Caroline Sticker scored four with seven digs and five aces. Olivia Kelly and Chasity Broadhead distributed 19 and 11 assists, respectively, with Kelly adding two aces. Jaylyn Strength had a team-leading nine digs, and she and Broadhead each added a kill to get in on the fun.
WILLIAMS BAPTIST 3, FAULKNER 1 (25-16, 25-22, 15-25, 25-21)
The Lady Eagles weren't so fortunate in a battle of Eagles with Williams Baptist (5-7). WBU took early control, outhitting Faulkner .444 to .000 in the first frame with 15 kills to the latter's six, and then rallying from a 21-16 deficit in the second set with a 9-1 closing run while narrowly taking the hitting battle .140 to .095. With an early 5-0 run and an advantage in hitting of .306 to .028, Faulkner scratched back a set before two extra errors were the difference in the fourth.
Faulkner had no answers for Cassie Carlson, who racked up 27 kills, 15 more than the next closest, on a whopping 67 attacks while tying for the second-most digs on the team with 10 as well as three aces and four total blocks. Mackenzie Griffin tallied 35 assists in WBU's 5-1 system. Smith and Sticker tied for the team lead with 10 kills, while Smith and Strength each scooped 12 attacks. Broadhead and Kelly produced 17 and 15 assists, respectively.
FAULKNER 3, BRESCIA 0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-16)
The Lady Eagles started Saturday in another sticky situation, trailing Brescia (5-7) 16-8 in the first set before flipping the momentum completely with a 16-4 run to make it set point. The run was spearheaded by Smith, who scored five kills, an ace and a block assist in the frame. Sticker added two kills in the span. Smith scored a block with Kynsi Hazzard while Martin and Hayes split another and Deem logged one solo. The Bearcats made it interesting by scoring the next three to get within 24-23, but Hazzard ended the first period with a kill.
The teams went back and forth in the second set before a trade of service errors kickstarted an 8-1 Faulkner run thanks to a pair of Smith kills off Kelly assists, two Strength aces and a Hayes kill. Smith punctuated another back-and-forth sequence to end the set with another kill.
Faulkner opened the third with a 4-0 lead off a Sticker kill, a block by Martin and Deem, an attack error and a Kelly ace before eventually growing the advantage to 17-8 on kills from Martin and Aubrie Hinson with a bad set. Deem and Hayes each added two more kills down the stretch, and Broadhead and Jo Lundy each fired aces, with Lundy's finishing off the match. Smith scored 13 kills, eight more than her next-closest teammate. Strength dug 11 balls and served up four aces. Kelly and Broadhead put up 15 and 14 dimes, respectively.
FAULKNER 3, FREED-HARDEMAN 2 (16-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-23, 15-10)
As Faulkner got outhit in set one .500 to -.048, it seemed Freed-Hardeman would add their CoC rivals to their list for the weekend, as the Lady Lions had yet to drop a set in wins over Brescia, Tougaloo and WBU. However, trailing 12-7 in the second, Faulkner broke off a 12-2 run with kills from Smith, Sticker, Hayes, Deem and Kelly. Deem split a block with Emmagin Spencer to get to set point, and Sticker added a kill to hand FHU its first set loss of the weekend.
Freed came out on top in a narrow third set and was preparing to do the same in the fourth as it led with set point at 24-23, but three straight attack errors tied up the contest. In the fifth, Faulkner surged ahead to a 10-3 lead with three more attack errors, kills by Martin, Deem and Spencer and two blocks shared by Martin and Deem. The Lions got within three before a Sticker kill and a Spencer solo block and later a Hayes kill created distance. A service error brought up match point, and Martin stepped up with a kill to give the program its first win over the Lions in Henderson since 2013 and Renda one last win against her alma mater.
Smith put up a double-double with 16 kills and 15 digs to cap off an outstanding weekend. Deem put down 15 kills on just 23 attacks for a .565 output with four assisted blocks. Strength put up 23 digs. Kelly and Broadhead dished out 25 and 16 assists, respectively. Sticker registered 17 digs and seven kills. Strength and Kelly each scored two aces.
The Lady Eagles are set to return home and open SSAC play against new foe Andrew in a tri-match with Pensacola Christian.
