Eagles Men's Volleyball Host Conference Pod

David Finney | photo by Angel Cornista

Waleska, GA - On a busy day at the campus of Reinhardt, the Men's Volleyball team hosted five teams at The Brown Athletic Center. Bluefield, Truett-McConnell, Webber International, Midway, and Georgetown were in town for the round-robin style MidSouth Conference pod. The games were all day Friday and will continue into Saturday morning and afternoon.

Reinhardt would get the 2 pm game versus Midway on Friday for their first game and the Eagles would get the 3-0 victory, however, the first two games were very tight.  In set one, Reinhardt was able to pull out to a large lead at 23 to 11, but they allowed Midway to get back into the game and eventually tie it at 24 points.  It would take two extra points for the Eagles to get the first set. Matthew Corrales, Chase Cross, and Victor Pacheco would lead the Eagles with kills. Corrales had 8, Cross had 9, and Pacheco had 6. 

The second set would see the game a little closer throughout than what they had in the first set. The Eagles were able to get a seven-point lead on a kill by Chase Cross putting the Eagles up 20-13, however, Midway would make a run in the last half of the second set. Reinhardt was able to hold them off and won by a five-point margin, 25-20.

The third set was not as close as the first two and the Eagles would dominate this one. The start was close as Midway was able to tie the score at eleven. After this, the Eagles had a run that would see them get a 24 to 12 lead in the last part of the final set. A kill by Dalton Fellows sealed the final set for Reinhardt 25-14.

Bruno Dewes and Ricardo Mujica would lead the Eagles in these matches with assists and digs. Dewes had 24 assists and 7 digs and Mujica would end up with had 6 assists and 8 digs.

Next, the Eagles would face Georgetown from Kentucky who is currently ranked #13 in the NAIA National Rankings. It would be a tough test for Reinhardt who would be facing a well established Men's Volleyball program.

The Eagles would give Georgetown a good fight in the first set keeping it close and battling all the way to the end only losing by two, 23-25. The set was tied twice in the final points at 19 and 20. Georgetown was able to get ahead by a slim one-point lead in the final five points and eventually got the two-point lead needed to win the set. 

In the second set, the Eagles hung tough for the first half - but eventually, Georgetown showed why they are nationally ranked.  After being down by just one point 15-14, Georgetown pulled away beating the Eagles by nine points, 25-16.  

The third set would almost duplicate the second set where the Eagles would keep it close halfway through the set. The game was tied at 12 and Georgetown started pulling away. Georgetown would eventually get a few points up on the Eagles and that would be it. They reached the twenty-five point mark winning 25 to 18. Matthew Corrales, Victor Pacheco, Chase Cross, and Bruno Dewes would lead the Eagles in the match versus Georgetown. Corrales had 8 kills and a .400 hitting percentage, Cross had 5 kills, Pacheco had 6 kills, and Dewes had 20 assists.  This match will be one that the Eagles can grow from and learn how to play with a talented and highly skilled volleyball team.

Overall, not a bad showing for the Eagles on day one of the pod. They will get back in action early Saturday morning at 10 am where they will take on Bluefield to wrap up their participation in the pod.  Look for the Eagles to rebound from their Saturday afternoon loss and show that they are a growing program in the MidSouth.