MONTGOMERY, Ala. --- The Life University women's volleyball team came up short on the road in Southern States Athletic Conference play, losing an evening contest at Faulkner Univ. 3-1.

Life U (6-6, 3-4 SSAC) sees their record in conference drop below .500 for the first time this season, while Faulkner (15-6, 5-2 SSAC) continues its strong start to the season. The Running Eagles trailed in most statistical categories, falling behind in both total kills (56-41) and attack percentage (.289-.135), blocks (5-1), assists (50-39), and digs (66-55). The only stat that Life U took the lead in was aces at 10-9.

Faulkner held momentum over the opening portion of the first set, but Life U's kill leader for the night, Jade Watson, found success with four of her 13 kills coming in the period. A 4-0 run by the Running Eagles midway through the set that ended with a Chloe Teter ace brought the team as close as they would get in the first at 15-13. A late run by the Eagles saw the set end in their favor 25-16.

A handful of runs by the Running Eagles in the second set ended up playing as the difference in the second. An early 4-0 run that came to a head with a Macey Sipmann kill pushed the team to a 6-4 edge. After Faulkner pulled back in to the lead, a 6-0 run that saw back-to-back-to-back Amanda Ray aces gave the Running Eagles a lead, 13-9, that they would not relinquish. The set came to a close 25-21 after a Teter kill that was assisted by Kennedy Neal.

Life U quickly found themselves on their back foot in the third set, never holding a lead on their way to a 25-17 set loss to drop to 2-1 on the night. The fourth set started much better for Life U, the team holding an early 8-6 edge before trading the lead back and forth with the Eagles over the majority of the set. Late in the fourth, Faulkner started to pull away, ending the match with a 25-18 final set.

The Running Eagles play again tomorrow, facing the Univ. of Mobile at 2 PM.