Eagles Go 1-1 on First Day of Conference Championship

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Men's volleyball grabbed its first postseason victory within the Mid-South Conference (MSC) Championship on Thursday afternoon (3-0 over Truett McConnell (Ga.)) before falling in the quarterfinals in a hard-fought match against Warner (Fla.).

The Eagles (12-11) took care of the Bears, 25-14, 25-13, 25-6, before the third-seeded Royals escaped Reinhardt, 26-28, 19-25, 25-27.

"Today, we played our first matches in the Mid-South Tournament," head coach CJ Shearer said. "Our entire focus coming into this was playing hard and as "We," and worrying about us. I can say the guys did that 100 percent. There are still things to work on, but the heart and focus was there. It was great watching them play two completely different teams with the same focus and intensity. In the end, we battled; that's all I can ask of my team. I will continue to work on elevating this program.

"Everything goes to God and we look forward to our match tomorrow."

Match 1, W (3-0 vs. Truett McConnell)

• Reinhardt came out on fire in the opening match, totaling .451 on the afternoon with 39 kills. The Bears couldn't do much to stop the Eagles' offense, and even helped the opposition with 11 miscues.
• Conversely, the hometown club had only seven errors and hit a match-best .536 (16 kills) in set two.
• Victor Pacheco hit an astounding .700 and led the way with 15 kills. Matthew Corrales (.643) pulled down a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs.
• Chase Cross, who had five scores, set a program-record with 11 aces.
• Ricardo Mujica was out-front with 25 assists.

Match 2, L (3-0 vs. Warner (Fla.))

• The nightcap with the Royals was a nail-biter, as both squads had a chance to take the opening game as the set went to extra time. In the end, Warner was able to avoid falling behind, 1-0, and instead took the set following back-to-back errors from Reinhardt.
• A small lead for the hometown club was erased in the middle of stanza two as the Royals went on a run to regain the advantage by six, 19-13, before holding on to earn a six-point positive outcome.
• The Eagles again left it all out on the floor in set three, and even held a 20-15 lead, but it slipped away as Warner grabbed the momentum and didn't look back in a 27-25 decision.
• Victor Pacheco added 14 more scores, while Chase Cross wasn't far behind with 12.
• Ricardo Mujica tallied 35 of his team's 38 dimes in defeat. 

The hometown team is now in the consolation bracket as play continues tomorrow. Reinhardt takes on the winner of St. Andrews (N.C.) and Midway (Ky.) at 7 p.m. EDT.

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For more information on Reinhardt Men's Volleyball, please click here.