Matt Barker, Sports Information Director

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Freed-Hardeman Lady Lion volleyball team struggled to take down the Eagles Friday in the Faulkner University Invitational, as the Eagles from Faulkner University handed FHU a straight sets loss while the Eagles of Reinhardt University secured a 3-1 win in the nightcap.

Despite the loss in the opening match of the day (25-23, 25-13, 25-19), the Lady Lions played tough the entire match, led by Freshman Claire Walker who paced FHU's attack with 11 kills. Lindsey Gordon got her teammates involved, as she dished out 18 assists while Sara Denton had 10 assists of her own.

The Lady Lions (0-2) countered the Eagle attack nicely, led by Freshman Reilly Fulton who had 14 digs. Seniors Alex Britt and Sara Denton followed close behind, as Britt contributed 12 digs while Denton countered 11.

Both teams were evenly matched on the attack, as Faulkner (2-0) and Freed-Hardeman both had 32 kills in the match. However, errors plagued the Lady Lions, which proved to be the difference maker, as FHU committed 24 errors on the attack while the Eagles combined for just 16 errors. The Lady Lions cashed in on seven service errors committed by the Eagles, but it would not be enough to secure the win.

The Lady Lions kept things tight in the opening stanza, as the first set went down to the wire. The Eagles led for a majority of the set, but never led by more than four points at the 16-12 mark. However, FHU would come back with authority and close the gap to just one point at the 24-23 mark before the Eagles were able to close it out with a 25-23 set win.

The Eagles continued to roll in the second set, as FHU fell behind early and struggled to regroup, which led to a convincing 25-13 set win for Faulkner.

The third set was much of the same, as the Lady Lions fell behind early and trailed by as many as seven at the 23-16 mark before the Eagles closed things out with a 25-19 set win for a 3-0 victory in the match.

The Lady Lions continued to struggle in their nightcap match-up with Reinhardt University despite picking up a solid 25-21 opening set win. However, Reinhardt (1-1) secured the next three sets to pick up the 3-1 win and hand FHU their second straight loss of the season.

Despite the loss, Claire Walker once again paced FHU's attack with 21 kills after hitting a 35 percent clip in the match. Lindsey Gordon dished out all 36 assists for FHU while Reilly Fulton and Sara Denton countered Reinhardt's attack, each with 17 digs.

Following the Friday sweep, the Lady Lions fall to 0-2 on the season.

UP NEXT: The Lady Lions continue play at the Faulkner University Invitational Saturday, as they take on William Carey University at 11:00 AM followed by a 3:00 PM match-up against Life University in Montgomery, Ala.