Fearless Eagles Battle Nation's Elite

The Faith Eagles returned to the "big stage" of the Division II Women's Volleyball Championships for the first time in 18 seasons on Thursday with two games against elite competition. The Eagles looked rusty in the first game against the number four seed, Johnson University, Tennessee, but finished the day with a spirited and competitive battle against the nation's top-ranked team, Bob Jones University. While the team left empty-handed with a 0-2 record for the day, Coach Lanny Nihart was pleased with his team's performance, overall.

"This is the highest level we can get," said Nihart. "We don't win and lose, we win and learn. Our girls are really fearless of any team. We hadn't played in two weeks, so that might have hurt us. I thought their courage was there. I thought their competitiveness was there. What hurt us (in the first game) were those unforced errors."

Game number one versus Johnson University

Maybe it was the early morning start time. Maybe it was rust from not playing for two weeks. More than anything, Johnson University was just really good in their opener against the Eagles on Thursday, dominating all three sets: 25-13, 25-15, and 25-10.

A steady string of attack errors and service errors by the Eagles gave Johnson opportunities to capitalize, and the Royals rarely failed. A 16-11 deficit in the second set was the most competitive of the three for Faith. Johnson recorded 39 kills to Faith's 19 for the game. Emma Owens, the ultra-talented freshman from Grandview Christian, led the way for the Eagles with seven kills. Fellow freshman Audrey Holbert was impressive as well with a team-high 11 digs.

"That's a team that can win a national championship," said Nihart.

Game number two versus Bob Jones University

When Coach Nihart said his team was fearless, the Eagles backed it up in the second game of the day against the three-time defending national champion and top-ranked team in Bob Jones University.

Shaking off the rust of the morning session, the Eagles were a completely different team in the matchup with the Bruins, playing toe-to-toe with the number one seed for most of the evening.

Faith's confidence rose early as the team battled to an 8-7 lead after a kill by Makenna Laib, proving to the team that they could hang tough with the nation's best. Bob Jones used a 10-5 run to regain the lead, but Faith rallied to within three after a kill by Mercedez Long and an attack error by the Bruins. Bob Jones closed out the first set on a 7-0 run to take a 1-0 lead.

The Eagles' confidence continued to grow in the second set as they once again bounced to an early 9-8 advantage. The Bruins' Rachel Pattisall served up a string of aces to put Bob Jones back in control as Bob Jones went on to a 25-20 win.

The third set was all Bruins, sending the Eagles home for the day with their second 3-0 defeat. In the end, the frontline attack from the Bruins proved too much as Bob Jones recorded 46 kills, led by their superstar, Victoria Glaze, with 15.

Despite the loss, Coach Nihart was thrilled with his team's effort—a building block for a team without a single senior that proved to itself it can contend with the nation's elite when they play their best. It was a yearlong culmination of a team that has blended a mix of veterans and youth into one that has a ton of promise moving forward.

"To go 25-20 (second set) against the number one team in the nation, from where we were in August…I was excited about that," said Nihart, with a smile. "I think we showed the committee that we deserved to be here."

The Eagles get one more chance for a victory in the 2021 season with a Friday matchup against Maranatha Baptist University. Game time is 4:30 p.m. EST.