Eagles Split Second Day in Tennessee
October 27, 2018
By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media
LEBANON, Tenn. – The Eagles again had to bounce back from an early defeat on day two of the Phoenix Classic in Tennessee, as Reinhardt fell victim to host Cumberland (Tenn.), 3-1 (25-15, 19-25, 20-25, 22-25) before finishing the event on a high note with a victory over Cumberlands (Ky.) in straight sets, 25-19, 25-22, 25-20.
The Eagles are now 27-6 as they look ahead to the final road trip of the season.
"Today was a bit of a roller coaster but what we wanted as a coaching staff for this tournament happened," head coach Brian Goodhind said. "Our team definitely had some adversity within the team exposed and it's huge to have that happen now and not in our conference matches as we head into postseason. The first match started off unbelievable versus the host Cumberland. We hit over .300 as a team, middles and right side were great and our ball control was solid. Sets two through four were completely different as the host team played loose and just kept coming. Unfortunately, our outsides and right-sides offensively cooled off and our ball control didn't allow us to run our middles more; our middles were phenomenal in this match, but we just couldn't get them ball as much as we wanted.
"The second match didn't start off well, but our team didn't give up and stayed in the fight and beat a very good University of Cumberlands. Our pins were very good, all hitting double-digits in kills; Tessa had one of her best matches as a collegiate athlete hitting over .500 with 18 kills and no errors on 35 attempts. Savannah Davis only played two sets and hit over .400 with 13 kills, while Cheetara had 10 kills hitting over .250. Kelly took a set to get in the flow of taking over as libero but once she got going her defense was solid (18 digs). I couldn't be prouder of their grind and fight in the last match coming off of a loss."
Cumberland was able to reel off three-consecutive sets to hand Reinhardt the loss after falling behind, 1-0, after the opening stanza. The defeat was also the Eagles' first on the road this year, as they fell to 8-1 in true road contests. The Phoenix took a page out of the opposition's book after having strong hitting numbers the rest of the way to fuel the comeback.
Reinhardt then took out its frustration on Cumberlands by putting together one of its best striking performances in recent memory. Collectively, the Eagles hit .296 in the three-set victory. With the aforementioned offensive highlights, Carlee Baxter was near the center of it all with 39 assists to get her team back on the right track.
The club heads to the Carolinas for the final three Appalachian Athletic Conference matches of the year in hopes of claiming back-to-back league championships.
Reinhardt can take a big step towards that goal on Nov. 1 against Allen (S.C.) at 6:30 p.m.
For up-to-the-minute Eagles sports news, follow Reinhardt Athletics on Facebook, @RU_Eagles on Twitter and @ru_eagles on Instagram.
For more information on Reinhardt Volleyball, please click here.
LEBANON, Tenn. – The Eagles again had to bounce back from an early defeat on day two of the Phoenix Classic in Tennessee, as Reinhardt fell victim to host Cumberland (Tenn.), 3-1 (25-15, 19-25, 20-25, 22-25) before finishing the event on a high note with a victory over Cumberlands (Ky.) in straight sets, 25-19, 25-22, 25-20.
The Eagles are now 27-6 as they look ahead to the final road trip of the season.
"Today was a bit of a roller coaster but what we wanted as a coaching staff for this tournament happened," head coach Brian Goodhind said. "Our team definitely had some adversity within the team exposed and it's huge to have that happen now and not in our conference matches as we head into postseason. The first match started off unbelievable versus the host Cumberland. We hit over .300 as a team, middles and right side were great and our ball control was solid. Sets two through four were completely different as the host team played loose and just kept coming. Unfortunately, our outsides and right-sides offensively cooled off and our ball control didn't allow us to run our middles more; our middles were phenomenal in this match, but we just couldn't get them ball as much as we wanted.
"The second match didn't start off well, but our team didn't give up and stayed in the fight and beat a very good University of Cumberlands. Our pins were very good, all hitting double-digits in kills; Tessa had one of her best matches as a collegiate athlete hitting over .500 with 18 kills and no errors on 35 attempts. Savannah Davis only played two sets and hit over .400 with 13 kills, while Cheetara had 10 kills hitting over .250. Kelly took a set to get in the flow of taking over as libero but once she got going her defense was solid (18 digs). I couldn't be prouder of their grind and fight in the last match coming off of a loss."
Cumberland was able to reel off three-consecutive sets to hand Reinhardt the loss after falling behind, 1-0, after the opening stanza. The defeat was also the Eagles' first on the road this year, as they fell to 8-1 in true road contests. The Phoenix took a page out of the opposition's book after having strong hitting numbers the rest of the way to fuel the comeback.
Reinhardt then took out its frustration on Cumberlands by putting together one of its best striking performances in recent memory. Collectively, the Eagles hit .296 in the three-set victory. With the aforementioned offensive highlights, Carlee Baxter was near the center of it all with 39 assists to get her team back on the right track.
The club heads to the Carolinas for the final three Appalachian Athletic Conference matches of the year in hopes of claiming back-to-back league championships.
Reinhardt can take a big step towards that goal on Nov. 1 against Allen (S.C.) at 6:30 p.m.
For up-to-the-minute Eagles sports news, follow Reinhardt Athletics on Facebook, @RU_Eagles on Twitter and @ru_eagles on Instagram.
For more information on Reinhardt Volleyball, please click here.