Volleyball Team Rallies, Defeats Union in Four

The Lady Eagles volleyball team defeated visiting Union College (Lincoln, NE) tonight in an exciting four game match. The Lady Eagles took game one before faltering in game two and most of game three. A furious rally by the Lady Eagles in game three led to a momentum changing win which the Lady Eagles rode into a decisive game four match winning victory. The win puts Faith at 3-2 on the year.

Game one was back and forth from beginning to end, with each team taking leads and then losing them. Faith was able to gain the lead for good at 17-16 and never looked back, winning 25-17 in game one. Game two looked like a different team on the Eagles side of the net, as Union took advantage of several Eagle errors to jump out to a 7-1 lead. Faith rallied back to pull within one a 9-10, but that was as close as they would get, as Union ran out to a 25-19 set win. The lull continued for the Eagles to begin set three, as Union jumped on the Eagles 9-0. Union maintained the lead for much of the early part of the match, leading 20-13 and looking poised to take a 2-1 game lead. However, sophomore JoJo Hodak sparked an Eagle rally, serving 10 points in a row as the Lady Eagles came roaring back to take a 23-20 lead. Faith lost serve but quickly gained it back, closing out the game for a 25-21 win. That momentum carried into the fourth set, as the Lady Eagles jumped out to a 10-4 lead. Union came back to tie it at 10 apiece, but Faith would outscore Union 15-8 to take the game and the match, 25-18.

Julia Rocha led the Eagles with 19 kills. Natalie Bunjer added two aces for the Eagles, while Stephanie Knupp had 35 assists. JoJo Hodak had 33 digs on the night. The Lady Eagles will head to Minneapolis, MN this weekend for the pre-regional tournament. Faith will play two games on Friday and two on Saturday.