MONTGOMERY, Ala.—The Southeastern University volleyball team went a perfect 4-0 at the Faulkner Invitational for the second straight year by defeating William Carey 3-2 and Truett McConnell 3-0.
William Carey got off to a strong start, thanks to hitting .368 as a team in the first set, cruising to a 25-19 win, then took the second 25-21. The Fire took a tightly contested third set by the count of 25-23, then posted 17 kills in the fourth set to take a 25-20 win and force a fifth set.
In the final set, the Fire scored 11 of their 15 points on kills, with Maggie Seagren and Emily Kalmink notching three each. Kalmink led the Fire with 14 kills, and hit .297. The senior added five digs and two blocks to her stat line.
Seagren had 13 kills and 13 digs with two blocks. Emily Boehlein also had a double-double effort with 10 kills and 13 digs.
Grace Ball led the back row with 30 digs, and Sarah Castillo had a team-best 31 assists.
The overall match score may indicate the Fire breezed to victory, but the individual game scores show otherwise.
In the first, the Fire had to overcome a six-point deficit early on, but used an 8-3 run to get within a point at 17-16. The set was tied eight times, including at 22, 23, 24, and 25, until the Fire took the last two points for a 27-25 win.
During the second, the Fire built an eight-point lead thanks to back-to-back aces by freshman Katie Chillura to give SEU a 23-15 lead, but saw it evaporate. However, it was late enough in the match to hang on for a 25-21 win.
The third set saw the Bears build a nine-point lead after 20 rallies, which was answered by a 10-2 SEU rally to tie the set at 16. The Fire posted 21 kills to score their 25 points, and hit a match-best .263 as a team during the set to come away with a 29-27 win.
Boehlein had her second double-double of the day with 18 kills and 12 digs. Freshman Jessica Hidded added 10 kills.
Seagren posted a team-best 17 digs, with Chillura adding 15. Also on defense, Taylor Gregory was in on four of SEU’s seven blocks.
Castillo led the way with 24 assists.
The Fire return to action next weekend at the Life Running Eagle Classic in Marietta, Ga.
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