Eagles Volleyball Heads to Florida for Two

David Finney | photo by Holly Heath

Lake Wells, Florida - The Eagles were on the road in Florida this weekend with a trip to both Warner University and Webber International for a match on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Warner is in the northern part of Florida and Webber International is in the Central Florida area so the Eagles will be getting a lot of road hours this weekend.

Match One

The first game of the Florida road trip was with Warner, which the Eagles had already played this season at home. Reinhardt was able to take the first meeting in three straight sets, however, conditions are different while you are on the road and teams adjust as the season develops. 

In the first set, the Eagles would have a slight lead through the first half, but things turned once Warner tied the set at fourteen all. It stayed close until Warner was able to rattle off four straight points making the score 22-17 Warner. Reinhardt was not able to make up this deficit eventually losing the first set 25-18.

The second set would go slightly opposite of the first set where Warner took an early lead and kept it most of the first half of the set. The Eagles were able to tie the set at seventeen on an error by Warner and they took the lead on the next point when John Hynes blocked a kill attempt by Warner. The set would be tied twice more until Victor Pacheco ended things with two kills giving Reinhardt the 25-23 second set win.

The third set was probably the most competitive and exciting set of the match. The set started off as the others where it was close through the first half with small one-point leads or ties along the way. The Eagles were able to get a good four-point lead on Warner when John Hynes and Christian Deleon got two back-to-back kills along with a couple of service errors by Warner. The lead would not last long as Warner would come back with few kills of their own along with some errors on the Eagles. The set was tied at 22, 23, 24,25, and 26 until Warner was able to take advantage of two attacking errors by Reinhardt. The set would end 28-26 for the Royals. This put Warner up 2-1 for the match, but the Eagles have been great this season getting back into matches pushing it to the final fifth sets.

Unfortunately, the fourth set would be the final and deciding set for the match. Reinhardt got off to a bad start letting Warner establish a big lead. The set was tied at seven all and then the Royals went on a run going up 10 points on the Eagles. In a set with competitive teams, just going up 2 or 3 points can make it hard for the other team to come back. Reinhardt was not able to make any runs in this final set and Warner would run away with it winning 25-16 and taking the match 3-1.

There were good numbers in the four sets, however, the errors were on the high side and it probably cost the Eagles a couple of sets. Bruno Dewes had a solid match getting 34 assists and 7 digs and Ricardo Mujica had 9 digs. Victor Pacheco had 12 kills, Chase Cross ended with 10 kills, and Matthew Corrales had 9 kills.

 Match Two

The Eagles would make the three-and-a-half-hour drive from Lake Wells, FL to Webber International in Central Florida. It was a long journey for the Eagles who would need to pick themselves up after losing the close one to Warner on Friday evening. Webber and Reinhardt met several weeks ago when the Eagles hosted Webber in Waleska. That match was one of the better ones of the season as both teams battled into five sets. Webber ended up taking the victory, however, it was a huge growing moment for the Eagles coming back after going down 2-0 to the more established program. The Eagles fought their way back pushing for a fifth set that went down to the last few points to decide the match. What would be the outcome for this match as Reinhardt was now the visiting team and had to travel many miles away from home?

In this match, the Eagles would clean up a lot of the errors that they had made the night before against Warner, however, Webber is a stronger program and have more obstacles that the team would have to get past. 

The first set would be a close start with a point separating the two most of the way, but Reinhardt was able to get a sizable four-point lead on a few errors by Webber and a few kills from Christian Deleon, Chase Cross, and John Hynes. It was a good series for the Eagles as they would go up 13-9, however, the lead would not last long. Webber was able to squeeze their way back into the set eventually getting it tied at fourteen all. Webber was able to get a few points ahead with the largest lead being five points at 24-19, but the Eagles would not stop at set point. Reinhardt would work their way back into the game on a series of kills by Chase Cross and a service error on Webber getting the score to 24-23. Unfortunately, Webber would get the match on the final kill, 25-23.

The second set would see the Eagles run out to a quick 4-0 lead on kills by Bruno Dewes and Rayner Sarmiento.  The Eagles would keep this lead until the set was tied at eleven. Webber would get the next lead and extend it to a three-point lead at 21-18.  This would be a lead that the Eagles would not be able to overcome and Webber would take the second set 25-22. Troy Sly and Matthew Corrales would keep it close, but they could never get past the three-point advantage held by Webber.

In the last meeting between the two, this is when Reinhardt turned it on and won two straight sets. The scrappy Eagles team would again keep this one close and battle point to point with Webber. Kills by Matthew Corrales and Christian Deleon would keep the Eagles tight in this third set. It was tied at 9-9 and then Webber went on a four-point run from a service error and a few kills got them the lead. Again, this would be a lead that Reinhardt would not be able to overcome, but they were able to get the point spread to just one point on kills by Cross and Corrales, 24-23. The next play would go in favor of Webber as they would get a kill ending the set 25-23 and taking the match 3-0.

It was a tough road trip for the Eagles in Florida, but they competed in both matches. There is still a lot of work that has to be done with this team to get them to the next levels, but improving and building on your previous foundation takes time. This team has highly skilled and talented players so they will get it back on track and start winning some games. They do not have any time to rest as they will travel back to Waleska where they will be ready to play Monday morning at 11 am versus Cornerstone. After this, they will have a match-up against Life at home on Wednesday.