Eagles Come Up Short in Great Come Back

David Finney | photo by Gian-Luca Fahling

Marietta, GA - Eagles Volleyball were in their second of three road matches for this week on Wednesday evening as they took on Life University. It was a solid match very similar to the Webber match from earlier in the season. The Eagles played well but went down 2 sets after losing 18-25 in the first set and then barely losing the second set 23-25. Most teams with the youth and inexperience that Reinhardt has would pack it in and get ready to go home after the third match, but not this team. Just like in the Webber match, the Eagles fought back in the third set winning it convincingly 25-18 and they continued on in dominant fashion winning the fourth set, 25-19. They would force a fifth and final set with the more experienced Life University team and push it all the way to the end, but eventually came up short, 12-15. They actually had a good lead early in the fifth set, but eventually lost it and had to play catch-up to get back into the match.

 The usual names stepped up for the Eagles in this hard-fought match. Chase Cross and Matthew Corrales would lead the way with 18 and 17 kills respectively. Both had good hitting percentages with Corrales at .316% and Cross at .414%. Victor Pacheco and Troy Sly both had great matches as well with Pacheco with 13 kills and Sly with 10.  

Bruno Dewes would lead the way with assists at 48, which is an outstanding number. Dewes has made himself a vital part of this team as a great setup guy and leader. He has a great serve as well as he got 4 aces on the night and he will sneak a few kills in as well to surprose the opposing team. Ricardo Mujica would lead the way with 16 digs and he was followed closely by Seth Stankich who had 10 digs. Cross had 8 digs to go along with his 17 kills. Cross is an all-around performer for this team as he can do everything really well.

The loss is not what the Eagles wanted, however, the competition factor is there and they have shown numerous times that they will not quit no matter the circumstance. The team is in good hands with Coach Goodhind and Coach Colden. Look for this team to keep improving and gaining experience as the season continues.  The Eagles have become a team that you do not want to face as they will continue playing hard til the end. Coach Goodhind had this to say about the game, "Tonight I find myself super proud of the team. No matter what I have said leading into tonight, our team was going to struggle with their emotions early on for personal reasons. To their credit they responded well in set 2 and took the match over in sets 3 and 4. Had a great start to set 5 but after a service error to give them a point, they went in a 11-3 run. That should have ended the match but that's why I'm proud. Unlike the RU team over last two years the guys after set 1 started to focus on culture, togetherness, and no negative energy. Set 5 they fought back and gave themselves a shot. 

Tonight nailed what I preach to the guys. Winning and losing doesn't determine success. Our guys tonight played with a much better culture; attitude, effort, togetherness, and no negative energy after set 1. For that I'm going to praise them! Whether we win or lose all the Honor and Glory goes to God!"

The Eagles will be on the road this Friday for the third road game of the week when they take on Carolina University. The next home game will be moving late afternoon when Morehouse visits the Brown Athletic Center.