No. 12 Life (Ga.) Cruises in Straight Stanzas

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

Photo Courtesy of Roger St Clair

WALESKA, Ga. – Familiar non-conference foes lined up against one another on Wednesday evening as Reinhardt hosted No. 12 Life (Ga.).

The Running Eagles showed the Brown Athletic Center crowd a glimpse of why they are nearing the top 10 nationally in the NAIA after rolling through the Eagles in three sets, 25-17, 25-8, 25-14.

The hometown club is now 12-8 after the defeat.

"Huge praise goes to Coach Steve and his players at Life," head coach Brian Goodhind said. "We as coaches preach "Trust the Process" or "Trust the Training." It's easier said than done, but we preach it and all of us try to bring that culture to most of our programs. It is not said with any disrespect, but I've never seen the buy-in at Life how I've seen it this season. All the work that has been put in is paying off for them. As a coach, I really respect what I saw from that team tonight… We jumped out, 6-0, and all they did was respond with… Trust the Training. They tie it 9-9, we take a timeout and we jump out again, 14-9. Again, they respond with complete trust to their training. From that moment on, they had complete control of the match. Honestly, we should not have been up, 6-0, they should not have let us get to 14-9 – but what impresses me – was they never got down and they never wavered They knew if they stayed the course, trusted their training, they would be fine. There is a reason they are ranked No. 12 in the country and 22-1.

For us, I was happy to have a top 15 program come into our gym. How do you get better? You play the best. As a coach, I know up and down our roster we have more talent and skill than we showed tonight, but that's not on my players – that's on me. There were better decisions that could have been made by me. Our game plan and adjustments could have been better. That all falls on me and not the girls. In defeat, I want to say thank you and give all the glory to God." 

Reinhardt vs. Life (L, 3-0)

• The Running Eagles were just in a league of their own on this night as they hit .312 (with 37 kills) while holding the host Eagles to a .029 hitting percentage and just 23 scores.
• After set one, Life took complete control by hitting .385 and .333 in stanzas two and three, respectively.
• A bight spot for Reinhardt was outside hitter Jacoby Sims, who led the team offensively with nine kills. Abby Infante (.273) was next in line with four scores.
• Defensively, dig numbers were spread up-and-down the lineup as Taylor Sawdy – who had 13 assists and eight digs – led a trio of players with six-or-more digs. Holly Heath had seven and Alma Vazquez-Nunez chipped in with a half-dozen digs as well.
• The squad added two aces and six assisted blocks in the loss.

It's back to conference play on Friday night as the club travels to Kentucky to take on Union at 6:30 p.m.

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