Volleyball Splits Final Day at Life Invite

MARIETTA, Ga.—The Fire won their seventh straight match, before their first setback of the season, defeating Truett McConnell, 3-0 before a tough five-set loss to Reinhardt.
SEU fell behind 4-0 in the first set, but rallied back with four straight points of their own, and went on to take the set 25-19.
In the second set, the Fire jumped out to a 10-2 advantage, capitalizing on three attack errors by TMC. The Bears committed eight attack errors in the second during a 25-13 loss in the second.
Truett McConnell scored the first five points of the third, and led 19-16 until the Fire got three kills from Avery Bradshaw during a 9-3 run to close the match. She finished with a match high 20 kills and added six digs and a block.
Courtney Krause dished out 36 assists, and Keniah Rivera Santiago recorded 23 digs.
Against Reinhardt, which is receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25, the Fire hit .317 with 18 kills in the first set to claim a 25-23 win. However, the Eagles came back with 16 kills on 25 swings, and held the Fire to just eight with five errors in a 25-13 second set win. Reinhardt also won the third set 25-20, but SEU answered with a 25-15 win to force the fifth set.
Southeastern fell behind 6-1 in the deciding set, with four of those points on attacking errors. The Fire got the deficit down to two at 11-9, but the Eagles scored four straight points to finish the match.
Emily Boehlein totaled 12 kills, and Emily Kalmink added 10. Krause accounted for 43 of SEU’s 47 assists, and Rivera Santiago had 25 digs to lead the defense. She was joined in double figures by Hannah Kaszubowski (12), Krause (11), and Sarah Castillo (10).
The Fire will play at home for the first time this season on Tuesday against Johnson University at 7 p.m.