Late Rallies Doom Eagles

ANKENY, Iowa—The women's volleyball team was oh-so-close to getting back into the win column over the weekend. Twice. Close losses against Calvary University on Friday, and Ozark Christian on Saturday pushed the Eagles' losing streak to seven. Faith controlled both matches before late rallies by their opponents became the dominating theme of the weekend.

Friday vs. Calvary University

The Eagles jumped to a thrilling 27-25 victory in set one, hoping to set the tone for the weekend. Faith led 7-4 early in the set, but Calvary stormed to a 22-15 lead and appeared to have the first set well in-hand. Several service aces from Morgan Stephens, Stephanie Hemsworth, and Alicia Smith brought the Eagles all the way back to a 25-25 tie before an attack error by Calvary and a kill by Anissa Greiner sealed the victory for Faith in set one.

Set two was a back-and-forth affair which saw five ties and four lead changes. The last tie of the set was 16-16 before Calvary closed it out with a 9-2 run off a combination of service errors and attack errors by Faith and a pair of kills by Calvary late in the set.

The Eagles led most of set three all the way up to first 18 points before a late rally by Calvary destroyed Faith's momentum. Leah Grady, of Calvary, was the difference-maker in set three, accounting for four kills in their final five points. Calvary won the set 25-21.

In the fourth and final set, Faith once again jumped to an early advantage, leading by the score of 15-9 before Calvary mounted another one of their comebacks. The frontline was simply overpowering for Calvary down the stretch as they accumulated 11 kills in their final 16 points, defeating Faith 25-22 for the set and match win.

Saturday vs. Ozark Christian

Saturday's match with Ozark Christian was a near replica of Friday. The Eagles pounced to an energetic and convincing 25-14 win in set one.

In set two, the Eagles led the entire set, all the way up to the setpoint (24-20) before Ozark Christian rallied to tie it at 25 apiece. Two errors by the Eagles led to a 27-25 win for Ozark Christian to tie it at one set each.

Sets three and four were replicas of the entire weekend for the Eagles. Faith held the advantage throughout most of both sets before late rallies by Ozark Christian sealed the Eagles' fate. Ozark Christian won set three by the score of 25-21, and set four by the score of 25-23.

Up Next

The Eagles conclude their seven-game "home stretch" this week with three games. The new court in the Nettleton Center is still too slippery to play on, so Monday's game against Emmaus will be played at Ankeny Christian Academy at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday's contest against Union College will be played at Grand View University at 5:30 p.m. and Friday's rematch with Calvary will be played at Ankeny Christian Academy at 6:00 p.m.