ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Friends University Falcons were tripped up in a tough five set match to the Freed-Hardmen University Lady Lions before bouncing back to knock off the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis (UHSP) Eutectics 3-1 in action today at the Eutectics Classic in St. Louis, Mo.
The Lady Lions slipped by 25-21 to jump on top in the first set and then charged out to a 10-5 lead in the second set. Friends then came back behind kills from Sofia Mekelburg, Grace McClintock and Erin Cheatum to pull even at 12-12.
With the score still even at 15-15, Gabbie Taylor caught fire and powered in three kills to fuel a 10-2 run to end the set and square the match 1-1.
The third set played out in nearly polar opposite form as the previous set, with Freed-Hardeman going on a big run with seven straight points to turn a 14-12 deficit into a 19-14 lead and went on to win 25-19 to take the lead.
The fourth set was tight throughout, but it was the Falcons capitalizing on a pair of errors with the score knotted at 24-24 to win and force the decisive fifth set.
Once in the fifth set, the score was 4-4 when the Lady Lions gained control with four straight points and never let up in winning 15-10 to close out the win.
Taylor led the Falcons with 14 kills and Mekelburg had a team-high 15 assists. Bailey Wilson paced the Falcon defense with a career-high 15 digs.
Teodora Dacic led four Lady Lions in double-figure kills with 14. Alyssa Austin and Becca Heineman each had 22 assists and Hanae Bezerga had a team-high 19 digs.
After dropping the opening set 25-20 to tournament host UHSP in the second match of the day, the Falcons caught fire and dominated the rest of the match, winning 25-11, 25-19 and 25-12 to improve to 3-3 on the season.
Leading 22-19 in a competitive third set, the Falcons got three straight kills from Alia Lanzen, Erin Palyash and Natalie Castillo to close out the set and then powered their way to a big win in the fourth set to emerge victorious.
Taylor again powered the Falcons with 13 kills and Mekelburg delivered team-highs in assists (25) along with a career-high total in digs (12).
Alani Hicks had a team-high five kills for the Eutectics and Joleigh Parker led the team with 11 assists. MaKenzie Uribe recorded a team-leading 22 digs for UHSP.
The Falcons will play two more matches tomorrow to wrap up play at the Eutectics Classic against John Brown University at 9 am and William Penn University at 1 pm.
