Eagles Fall After Fast Start

Eagles Fall After Fast Start

Team Stats

September 9, 2014
The Faith volleyball team controlled the first two sets against NAIA foe American Institute of Business only to experience the match slip away. AIB gained early advantages in each of the last 3 sets enroute to winning the match 3-2.  The loss drops the Eagles to 5-4 on the year.

"We really played well the first two sets.  We limited AIB offensively and held them to negative or zero hitting %.  In the third set we became very tentative in our defensive positions and lost the battle at the nets.   Ultimately their hitting over powered us," noted coach Lanny Nihart.  

In set one the Eagles held leads of 15-9 and 21-14 and sealed the win 25-16 with two kills from junior middle Kim Post and two AIB turnovers.  Faith led set two by the score of 15-13 and outscored AIB 10-4 with freshmen Emily Morton serving 10 consecutive points for a 25-17 win.  

In set three AIB began to increase offensive pressure grabbing leads of 10-5 and 15-8 with leading AIB hitter Amy Pettinger leading the way.  AIB lengthened their lead to 22-11 and eventually won 25-13 behind a 35.5% attack rate.  "We stopped playing instinctively and with aggressive defense.   When our team does that we become very tentative on offense and our attack percent showed that (-.028).  We build our intensity from defense and AIB did a good job of consistently keeping us on our heels," mentioned Nihart. 

Set 4 was similar to the previous set with AIB gaining quick advantages of 10-6 and 12-9.  Faith battled back to tie the score at 12-12 but then saw the AIB Eagle's go on a 10-2 run for a 22-14 lead.  AIB ended the match with a short run to win 25-16.  

The deciding 5th set saw AIB grab a quick 6-2 lead forcing Faith to take a quick timeout.  The teams traded side outs and then AIB put together another run of 8-5 for a 14-7 lead and an eventual win of 15-8.

Faith was led by junior Kim Post with 13 kills and 22.2% attack and 10 digs.  Freshmen libero Shannon Steffen led the Eagles defensively with 12 digs.  "Hopefully we will learn from this loss and better our position the next time we gain set leads. We have been very competitive in all our matches this year, this was the first one we could define as giving away," noted Nihart.  "It was a great atmosphere and we were very thankful for all the administration and students who attended our game." 


The Eagles return to action on Saturday, September 13, with a home match against Dayspring Bible College. That game will be part of the annual Homecoming festivities.