Tough Road Loss for Lady Eagles

ANKENY, IA – It was a hard fought match, but Emmaus was unable to maintain consistent play and suffered a 1-3 conference loss to Faith Baptist Bible College.  The Faith Eagles, currently ranked #9 in the NCCAA DII national poll, jumped out to a large lead in set one, forcing Emmaus to try and find their rhythm, while playing catch-up on the scoreboard.  Faith took the set 17-25.

Set two found the Lady Eagles settling into better pacing and ball control, while Faith had hit a lull in their hitting percentage.  Emmaus captured the set 25-22.  However, Faith would respond with increased offensive firepower in sets three and four to take the match (19-25, 19-25).  In both sets, the Faith Eagles pushed Emmaus into a starting deficit, with scores of 7-0 and 7-1, respectively.

"We played well in spurts, which isn't enough against a team like Faith," said Coach Pitman.  "Faith should be credited for their consistent play.  They were the better team tonight."

Emmaus was plagued by hitting and serving errors throughout the match.  "We are all accountable for generating positive numbers.  Unfortunately, tonight, we did some self-defeating in this regard," commented Coach Pitman.  "We are a young team and we are discovering what it is going to take for us to consistently maintain a competitive level of play, on both the physical and mental sides of the game.  The true measure of our character will be how we respond when situations don't turn out the way we plan or would like."

The Lady Eagles will have an immediate opportunity for a turnaround as they enter a four game home stand.  After facing St. Louis Christian on Thursday (10/1), Emmaus will play Dayspring Bible and Calvary Bible on Saturday (10/3), and then host Faith Baptist in a rematch of tonight's game next Tuesday (10/6).  The Lady Eagles sit at 5-5 (1-2 MCCC) on the season.