MARIETTA, Ga. – The Life University men's volleyball team fell short in a hard fought thrilling five set defeat Thursday evening, falling to St. Andrews 3-2. With the loss, the Running Eagles' AAC tournament run and season concludes.
The Running Eagles were dominant offensively, garnering 78 points compared to St. Andrews' 53, but, despite the tremendous offensive output, the attack came at a price as the team tallied 27 attacking errors and 25 service errors in the devastating season-ending loss.
Led offensively by Diego Martinez, who notched 18 kills along with eight digs, the Running Eagles lost the opening set 25-15 before winning the second set 25-20. David Barcan added 15 kills and five service aces while Jose Llanaza totaled 14 kills in the defeat. Serving as the libero, Alexis Prado recorded a game-high 16 digs while Nikolas Carrascal led the way with 58 assists. Defensively, Carrascal tabbed 12 digs.
After splitting the first two sets, the Running Eagles started off hot with a 6-2 run to open the momentum swinging third set. A Diego Martinez kill then moved the frame 7-3, but the Knights would go on to tally the the next eight points to storm ahead, 12-7. Later in the set, the Running Eagles then saw three consecutive service errors falls in favor of the Knights, moving the score to 19-17. With just two points to overcome, the Running Eagles struggled to keep up down the stretch, falling in the decisive set 25-20.
In the fourth set, a resurgence from Life U saw the Running Eagles string together five consecutive unanswered points as the team the Running Eagles turned a 6-4 deficit into a 9-6 lead. The run was finally stopped with a St. Andrews' kill, but after the emphatic start to the fourth set, Life U would then go on another 6-0 to jump ahead 20-10. The Knights went on to make the set close, but in the end, both teams were locked at two sets each, headed to the fifth set.
The fifth set, unfortunately for the Running Eagles, did not fall in their favor, as St. Andrews fought to a thrilling 15-12 win.
With the 3-2 loss to St. Andrews, the Running Eagles' 2023 campaign comes to a heartbreaking end.
