By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media
BARBOURVILLE, Ky. – The Bulldogs of Union (Ky.) pushed the top team in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) to the brink early Saturday, but the Eagles were able to regroup in a come-from-behind victory on the road, 3-2, 20-25,25-14,23-25,25-13,15-10.
Reinhardt (26-2) continues to roll through the competition en route to its 20th-straight triumph, but this victory went as far as possible before the positive outcome went the way of the hometown team.
"Today was big for a few reasons… Since I've taken over here at RU, Union has been a school that has had Reinhardt's number in the past," head coach Brian Goodhind said. "The last regular-season match we lost was there at Union in 2017. I give a lot of credit to the players at Union; those girls played hard and had great energy. The environment was pretty good, Union had a good crowd that did a great job creating energy for the home team. I thought both teams dealt with some adversity within the match itself and I was very proud of how our girls handled that throughout the match. Something you may not hear often enough, I want to give the officials a lot of credit today. This match was intense, with high emotion, and through some ups and downs I thought they did a great job not allowing it to get out of hand. It is not easy to continue the steak we are on day-in and day-out, and I couldn't be prouder of our team right now.
Their character really showed today and how they are handling adversity match-in and match-out is something we have lacked in the last couple seasons. This was a complete team win from each player and our staff. All we did was go 1-0 today and now our focus moves onto grinding away on Monday at practice. To God goes all the Glory. #WePlayFor11."
The Bulldogs came out with a vengeance looking to stay towards the top of the standings and outhit their visitors in set one, which resulted in an early hole for Reinhardt to climb out of. Down by nine late in the game, 22-13, the Eagles got within three after six-consecutive points, but Union netted three of the next four for a 1-0 advantage.
The Eagles stormed back to tie the match at 1-1 after putting together a large scoring spree to move from being up by three points to double-digits at 18-8. The Bulldogs would try to fight back and alternate scores with Reinhardt, but the deficit was too large to make a comeback threat.
With the match tied, 1-1, Union made a furious run in the final possessions to steal a 2-1 lead after being down, 22-20. The Bulldogs would then find themselves on the doorstep of victory with five points in-a-row, but the Eagles (now down, 2-1, overall) would soar out to an 11-2 lead in set four and not look back. Reinhardt would cruise the rest of the way to a 12-point victory thanks to a .382 hitting percentage.
The deciding set was neck-and-neck and full of energy, timeouts and big plays. Union would tie the score at 10-10 – in a 15-point game – but the rest of the day belonged to Reinhardt, as the Eagles netted the final five scores of the match to remain unbeaten in conference play.
Carlee Baxter dominated from the assist line with a game-high 48 assists and 11 digs for another double-double this season.
Four players, Cheetara Bing (15), Shelby Glawson (14), Tessa Colden (11) and Shadaisha Summerall (11) all hit double-digits in kills on offense.
Mar Vives helped prevent Union from scoring with 26 digs, while Tessa Colden had 13.
Eagles Stat Leaders at Union
Kills Cheetara Bing (15), Shelby Glawson (14), Tessa Colden (11)
Aces Carlee Baxter (3), Mar Vives (2), Sarah Sweet (1)
Blocks Brittany Taksas (2), Courtney Pressley (1)
Assists Carlee Baxter (48), Mar Vives (6), Erinn Marroquin (5)
Digs Mar Vives (26), Tessa Colden (13), Carlee Baxter (11)
Reinhardt is home for a few days before heading back on the road to open up play in South Carolina on Nov. 1 against Columbia.
First serve is 6:30 p.m.
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