Running Eagles open SSAC Championship with Narrow Defeat
Women's Volleyball / 11.10.22
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Life University women's volleyball team dropped its first match of the SSAC Volleyball Championships 3-2 after a hard-fought 5-set battle with William Carey. The Running Eagles then earned a win by default over Talladega College to set up a vitally important Friday afternoon match against Loyola.
After falling to William Carey 3-2, the final pool play match against Loyola ultimately serves as a play-in match to see which of the three competing teams will move on into semifinal play. The heart-wrenching postseason opening match against the Crusaders came down to the wire in the final two sets as Life University earned a total of five match points before falling to the two-seeded Crusaders.
To begin the match, William Carey won the first set before Life U. turned it around and leveled the series score headed to set three. The Running Eagles then fought in a heavily contested third set where neither team broke loose until the end. A late lead fell in favor of the Crusaders 19-16, but an additional rally by Life U. pushed the lower-seeded Running Eagles back ahead 22-20. A Lena Pucnik kill followed by a Madison Lee service ace moved the set to 24-21 before an attacking error put the Crusaders back in control of the serve 24-22. A final Madison Lee assist set Pucnik back up moments later, moving the series to match point, 2-1.
The fourth set was another back-and-forth affair before the Running Eagles broke free moving the score to 22-14. A huge rally by the Crusaders saw the designated home team come back and nearly tie the set, as William Carey strung together seven consecutive points moving the score to 22-21. The Running Eagles then earned two of the next three points to move the set to match point, 24-22.
Next up, the Crusaders earned two points to knot the contest at 24 all before Life U. once more moved the score to set point, 25-24. A Life University attack error leveled the contest at 25-25 before a kill by Chloe Teter moved the score once more to set and match point 26-25. After earning the lead with the kill, the next three consecutive points fell in favor of William Carey as the two-seeded Crusaders turned the fourth set's only lead change into a crucial set win, 28-26.
With the two teams deadlocked at two set wins each, the Running Eagles earned a 9-4 lead in the final 5th set. A Fayola Louis kill and a Kennedy Neal service ace moved the Running Eagle lead to 12-8. Then, a five-point rally from the Crusaders put William Carey in the lead 13-12 as the two teams went down to the wire once more in the 5th set.
A Morgan Furness kill gave Life University the lead 14-13, but the Crusaders then scored the final three points for the second, consecutive set, earning the lead and the match win, 3-2.
Overall, Life U. served ten aces and recorded nine blocks as the two teams were as even as they could be, each earning 75 points. Fayola Louis and Macey Sipmann led the charge with 14 kills each while Madison Lee provided an impressive 45 assists. Additional contributors Lena Pucnik and Chloe Teter provided solid performances, each generating 11 points.
The women's volleyball team will now compete in the final leg of pool play tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 PM. For full results of the SSAC Tournament check HERE.
