Vette City Classic Day Two was Tough on Eagles
Bowling Green, KY - It was day two of the Vette City Classic for the Eagles Women's Volleyball and the final results did not end up in favor of the Eagles despite very close matches.
Game One
The first matchup was against William Carey who came into the game with two wins the previous day. William Carey would take three straight sets from the Eagles, however, it was not easy and with a few things going their way - the Eagles very well could have won a couple of the sets. The first set would take extra points to get to the two-point lead needed to win. The first set was 27-25 for William Carey. The second set ended up 25-18 and the third set was another close that could have gone either way but William Carey would win 25-23.
Each set was tight all the way through and the Eagles had several leads, however, they just could not hold the leads at the very end which gave the close matchup to William Carey. Keep in mind that this is very early in the season and these narrow losses will end up going in the win column as the season progresses.
Katherine Perrin and Samantha Cramer would lead the way for the Eagles with Perrin smashing down 12 kills and Cramer having an outstanding match with 26 assists. Cramer is proving herself to be a definite leader in this early season.
In addition to Perrin and Cramer's performances, Allison Selway and Ambria McBride would have 7 kills each. Catherine Curry and Maria Piliposyans would 5 kills a piece. Alma Vázquez Núñez would have a great game picking up 22 digs to lead the way for the Eagles with Cramer adding 13 and Selway with 10.
Game Two
The second matchup of the day was against Blue Mountain College where the Eagles would end up losing 1-3. The Eagles were able to take set one 25-23 and the final three sets would go to the Toppers of Blue Mountain, 25-18, 25-19, 25-16.
Nunez and Sarah Sweet would have solid sets with each getting 20 digs. Selway would have 8 digs to go along with her 5 kills in all four sets. Perrin and Piliposyans would put up good numbers in this matchup with Perrin getting 10 kills and 9 going to Pilopsyans.
Maria Cordova would give the Eagles a big lift in this match getting 19 assists to lead the team. She also added 7 digs to her stats as well. Cramer would have another solid game adding 12 assists to her total and picking up 5 digs.
The first two sets were back and forth lead changes with neither team getting more than about 3 or 4 points ahead. In set one, the Eagles were able to pull away at the very end getting the narrow 5-point margin on the Toppers and holding on for the narrow 35-23 win. The second set would go about the same way as the first, however, Blue Mountain was able to pull away from Eagles at the end.
The final sets would see the Eagles have slow starts and Blue Mountain take advantage of getting a sizable lead early in the sets. The Eagles would fight their way back into the game getting within a couple of points, however, it did not take long for the Toppers to regain their lead and keep this until the very end. The end of the second set through the fourth would see the leads creep up to around seven to eight points which can be very hard to overcome. The Eagles were never able to chip away at the larger leads held by Blue Mountain
Overall, Reinhardt had a successful trip even though they were only able to pick up one win in four total matches. The team gained experience and confidence which they will be able to use as the season goes on.
The Eagles will have most of next week to train and prepare for another set of weekend games coming up on Friday and Saturday at the Faulkner Invitational in Montgomery, AL. The Eagles play Mobile, William Carey, and Faulkner on Friday, August. 26th, and then they will face Southeastern University on Saturday morning, August 27th.