Women Earn Successful Road Trip
The Faith Eagles volleyball team ventured south for a series of conference and non-conference games this past weekend with the hope of securing a 2nd place finish in the MCCC conference. They did improve to...
The Faith Eagles volleyball team ventured south for a series of conference and non-conference games this past weekend with the hope of securing a 2nd place finish in the MCCC conference. They did improve to 15-10 on the year but fell into a second place conference tie with Ozark Christian College.
Faith matched up against Ozark Christian in the first of three road matches. Faith began strong, capturing set one 25-23. Ozark reversed the tables in set two 25-18 leading to a very exciting set three. Making defensive adjustments Faith limited Ozark's offense, however Ozark was able to muster a lead of 23-18 before the Eagles tied the score at 23. The Eagles had an opportunity down by one 24-25 to tie but were unable to execute a final kill resulting in a 25-23 lost. Ozark controlled set four leading to a 25-16 set and match win. "We were ready to go," noted coach Nihart. "We have been talking about ending strong in league play and knew Ozark had recently playied well. We had beaten them early in September but respected the way they have improved. We just came up a play short." Junior Julia Bray led the offensive attack with 10 kills with senior Ariel Dicks adding eight. Senior Libero Rikki Powell provided 12 digs.
Faith then traveled to Grandview, Missouri to take on Hillsdale Free Will Bible College and host Calvary Bible College. Hillsdale, a very athletic team, gave the Eagles a formidable foe. Faith started strong capturing a very exciting set one 25-23, then followed up with another 25-23 set two win. "We challenged ourselves after Friday night's loss at Ozark to be more mentally tough, tough as nails. We wanted to mentally challenge ourselves to not get down during a match when it is going bad and at least it worked during the Hillsdale match," noted Nihart. Both teams had opportunities during the first two sets to get wins. The Eagles held the lead for most of set one and two but needed a comeback during the later points of set two. Faith captured the win with a Bray kill. "It was good to see our All-American come through and I am sure Julia was happy wtih her results as well. As we go down the stretch our upperclassmen are really going to need to lead," remarked Nihart. Bray again led Faith offensively with 10 kills but received help from freshmen JoJo Hodak with 10 kills and nine digs. Rikki Powell had an outstanding game with 25 digs.
Faith concluded the day defeating host Calvary 3-0. Calvary made it interesting in set one leading most of the set up until the final points with Faith winning 25-23. "We had several two point sets this weekend and it is great for your confidence to get those wins. It was difficult to shift in 30 minutes to an entirely different style of play but I thought we handled it well," noted Nihart. Freshmen Hodak led Faith in kills with nine and added 10 digs with Dicks adding four and eight. "There were so many who contributed during Saturday's wins it would be hard to name everyone. It was a total team effort and I know the players were excited about their effort," cited Nihart. "Hillsdale's win was won of the best we have had for awhile".
Faith will entertain #8 nationally ranked Grace University on Tuesdaynight at 7:00 PM.
