MARIETTA, Ga. — The Life University men's volleyball team fell in a four-set battle to Reinhardt Wednesday night, pulling out an improbable set one win (30-28) before falling in three consecutive sets to the impressive Eagles.
The Running Eagles (4-4, 2-3 AAC) opened the match neck and neck in the closely contested opening frame. Knotted at ten each, the Running Eagles stormed ahead to a 16-12 lead after back-to-back kills from Jakaris Brown and David Barcan forced a timeout from Reinhardt.
Life University then went on a mini-run claiming four of the next six points to bring the set to 20-14 before a 3-0 run from the visiting Eagles forced Life U to pull its first timeout of the day. The two teams then battled to 24-23 with Life U holding set point.
At set point, Reinhardt reversed the advantage to claim a 25-24 lead, a 26-25 lead, and a 27-26 lead before the resilient Running Eagles turned the tides to take a 28-27 advantage after a big kill from Diego Martinez and an assisted block from both Martinez and Diego Perez. The set was leveled once more at 28-28 before an attacking error and a Ryan Ollie service ace provided Life U a one-set advantage going into set number two.
Unfortunately for the Running Eagles, the bounce back from Reinhardt after set one proved to be too much as the next three sets fell heavily in favor of the visitors en route to the 3-1 defeat.
The second set was by far the most one-sided as eight of Reinhardt's 25 points came from service aces while an additional three points were produced by Life U service errors. All in all, the second set saw Life U earn a total of two kills as the Eagles from Reinhardt University cruised to a 25-6 routing of the Running Eagles.
After the disheartening set two defeat, the Running Eagles never recovered as the team dropped the third set 25-17 followed by the fourth set 25-16.
Up next, the Running Eagles will regroup with a weekend off before traveling to Cumberland University for a non-conference match. First serve in Lebanon, Tennessee is set for 4 pm EST.
