Eagles Go Five Sets Again With 14th-Ranked Life (Ga.)

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

MARIETTA, Ga. – Whenever the hometown Eagles and the Running Eagles get together inside the Eagles' Nest at Life (Ga.), seemingly all the contests come down to the wire.

Wednesday night was no different for men's volleyball, as Reinhardt forced its 14^th-ranked host once again into a deciding set before falling in five, 22-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-23, 8-15.

The defeat drops the Eagles to 8-8 on the year and 6-5 inside the Mid-South Conference (MSC).

"Tonight was the epitome of grinding," head coach CJ Shearer said. "The team has faced a ton of adversity and tonight easily could've added to that. Instead, they reached deep and just battled with an extremely talented team. I am 100 percent proud of the effort and fight these men showed tonight, and we will continue to work with them on improving the execution.

"Everything goes to God, and we look forward to our conference pod next week."

Both Matthew Corrales (.294) and Chase Cross (.286) collected 15 kills to help Reinhardt come back from an early 2-0 hole after dropping close sets by the count of 25-22 and 25-21 to open the evening. The Eagles, who showed heart and rebounded with back-to-back stanza wins in the third and fourth (25-22, 25-23), were able to tie up the scoreboard and force a final game.

Each team tried to grab control of the outcome in set five, but after 12 points, the competition was tied at 6-6. From there, however, the Running Eagles would answer the call and respond with a 9-2 run thanks to a combination of efficient offence and above-the-net defense.

Reinhardt would get back within a pair at 10-8, but Life ended the conference battle after five-straight points.

Overall, the club hit .178 (23 errors) but was strong on the serving line with six aces. The Eagles were even better above the net on defense with 16 assisted blocks and three solo rejections.

Dalton Fellows – who had seven kills – paced the blocking attack with five stops. Victor Pacheco gathered four blocks and Corrales (eight digs) had three as well.

Ricardo Mujica had 39 of the squad's 41 assists in the loss.

Reinhardt will now come home and hit the practice court in preparations for the MSC pod play event that will take place inside the Brown Athletic Center beginning on March 26.

The hometown club will first face Thomas More (Ky.) at 3 p.m.

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