Eagles Find Their Stride In Win Over Union
By Jon Crossman
ANKENY, Iowa – The women's volleyball team regained their footing from the weekend with a solid performance at home, beating the Warriors of Union College on Tuesday evening in three sets.
Starting the strong attack for the Eagles was front-row regular Rachel Kleczka, who got the crowd going and her teammates' energy high with a monster kill to start the game. The ladies hung on to a two-point lead until Sarah Iler stepped up to serve later in the set, where her well placed aces led to a 7-point difference between the teams. Faith followed through with a steady flow of offense into the next set, finishing confidently at 25-12.
The visiting Warriors made several attack errors in the second setting, digging an early hole versus the Eagles' wall-like defense. Promising talent in freshman Tina Harms was on full display in the front row, with her recording several sly placements over the fingertips of Union defenders to help boost Faith to a quick set victory. Serving to start the third set for the Eagles was powerful hitter Sierra Udd, whose direct hits to the Warriors' back row created the biggest point streak of the game so far, with six unanswered serves in a row. Union got some composure back late in the final moments of the set to return the favor with several kills in a row, but by then the damage was already too great and the lady Eagles finished out the game 25-13 to clinch their second win of the season.
Performing above and beyond for the Eagles were Amanda Larson (12 kills) and Rachel Kleczka (8 kills), along with rookies Audrey Holbert and Sadie Long who contributed 5 kills each. Libero Morgan Stephens did her regular service of digging up difficult hits for the team, finding 9 digs to pop back up to the strong outside hitters. Makenna Laib showed her worthiness as the Eagles star setter, dishing 28 of the teams 32 total assists out to her teammates.
The Eagles start their long string of upcoming road games with the Conference Classic, playing Barclay College on September 3, at 5:00 PM.