Eagles Ten Game Win Streak Comes to an End Against Warner

Waleska, GA - The Eagles have been on a super run during February winning ten games in a row. Their last loss goes all the way back to the beginning of February when the team had their Florida trip to play Warner and Webber. The team has had tremendous growth since then and new players have gelled with the old veterans to make this a formidable team to play.

Tonight's game was with the Royals of Warner University visiting Reinhardt almost one month since their first meeting.  Tonight's match would play out very similar to the first meeting where the Eagles got out to a 1-0 lead and the final three would go to Warner. Despite the outcome - Reinhardt showed that they could battle and play right with one of the conference leaders. The Eagles stood toe-to-toe with Warner and those final three sets could have gone the other way. The final set scores were 25-19, 19-25, 20-25, and 23-25. Reinhardt had the lead in the final set 22 to 18 and it appeared that they would tie the match at 2 sets each sending it to a final fifth set. Unfortunately, Warner focused and turned up the intensity to come back and take the lead from the Eagles to win the fourth set and take the match.

Rodolfo Biegelmeyer has established himself as one of the leaders on the team and his play on the court shows. In tonight's match, he had 23 kills to lead the Eagles and he only had one error giving him a .595 hitting percentage. John Hynes was next up with 10 kills and Chase Cross followed him with 8 total kills.

Alex Sanchez and Bruno Dewes are also floor leaders for this Eagles team they both create a lot of exciting moments for the big men on the team. Sanchez is constantly diving on the floor getting digs to keep plays going and it usually lands in the hands of Dewes who knows how to set up his big men for the final slam. Most of the time, this was working for the Eagles in tonight's game - but they could not close the door in the fourth set. They have shown that they can compete with quality teams like Warner, but now it is time to show they can close out a tight fourth set and push through a fifth set with a team like Warner. The Eagles are right on the edge of doing this and should be a team to worry about once tournament time comes. 

Coach Goodhind had this to say about the Warner game, "As always, all the Honor and Glory goes to God! But tonight I'm truly disappointed in both teams. I can't speak for another coach but tonight was tough because it wasn't the game I love and respect for most of the night. Both teams got wrapped up in bad calls and/or missed calls by the officials; as well as talking through the net! It's something WE preach not to do in our culture and playing neutral and together on our side of the net. There were a bunch of times we broke from our culture and it hurt us. It's not how we play and as I've already said I was disappointed as a whole on both sides of the net. Warner is the #1 team in the AAC and they are a very good team. Both teams are simply too talented to take away from the game like was done tonight! I will not blame officiating for a loss, ever! Bad calls happen, they aren't perfect! We as coaches make bad decisions or calls all the time! The players make mistakes and errors every set. It's all a part of the game and both sides didn't respect the game at times tonight and it took away from what was a really good AAC matchup tonight.

We will do our part as coaches and try to get this across to our team and have a growth mindset here. The lesson here that we should learn from this is far bigger than a loss. We should always honor God, the game, our teammates, the officials, our opponents, and ourselves!"

The Eagles will need to put this game behind them quickly as they will be back on the court Saturday morning at the Brown Athletic Center to play another talented team in Webber International. The game is at 11 am and should be another battle with two top teams in the AAC!