Contributed
(August 29, 2010)

BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - After knocking off the host team yesterday in the third annual Bulldog soccer tournament at Union College, Faulkner’s men’s soccer team faced Cumberland in the tournament championship this evening and clinched the 2-1 victory.

“It was another solid game,” said head coach Brett Mitchell. “It’s nice to bring home some hardware, the guys really deserve it.”

Rodrigo Pontes scored on a one on one with the keeper in the first half and Marco Mata added the team’s remaining goal in the second period.

Goalkeeper Kevin Saxby was on point for the Eagles claiming six saves and allowing only his first goal of the season.

“Saxby was huge, especially in the second half,” said Mitchell. “They pulled everyone at the end of the game and really came after us and he did and outstanding job.”

Faulkner (3-0-1) will take on conference rival Southern Wesleyan in a non-division match next Saturday in Central, S.C. at 4 p.m.

Volleyball team lose twice in tourney

LEBANON, Tenn. - After igniting the season with a 3-0 start the Faulkner volleyball team looked to continue their success on day two of the Cumberland University tournament. The Lady Eagles were rattled by extensive errors against Reinhardt in the opener and fell in four sets 26-24, 15-25, 15-25, 15-25. Faulkner followed with a 3-0 decision to Cumberland 24-26, 15-25, 12-25.

“We had a tremendous amount of errors against Reinhardt,” said head coach Tori Bartels. “There were just too many mental mistakes and that makes it hard to be competitive. We actually played outstanding defense for the most part against Cumberland, but we kept coming out of system and our hitters had a hard time adjusting.”

Faulkner had a staggering six players with a negative hitting percentage against Reinhardt. Shelby Woods had the top offensive performance at the net with five kills hitting .250. Maddie Brinkely was again solid in the back row with 16 digs, while Neysa Hernandez added 12 more.

Hernandez came to life against Cumberland however, rocking 10 kills hitting .269. Kelsey Bell followed with six kills and three total blocks and Woods posted five more kills hitting .400 against the Bulldogs. Setter Lerin Hoback had 43 assists, 11 digs and three aces on the day.

“I’m not disappointed to be honest with you,” Bartels added. “We definitely have some things to work on, but the girls are hungry for the next win and this is the type of team you wanna coach. A team that will learn from its mistakes and do what it takes to win.”

Faulkner (3-2) will enter the Millsaps College tournament on Friday, Sept. 3. The Lady Eagles will take on Le Tourneau University at 3 p.m.