Union Volleyball Drop Two on Day Two of Mountain Madness Tournament

MILLIGAN, Tenn. – The Union Commonwealth women's volleyball team (0-4) dropped its final two matches of the season Saturday afternoon during the final day of the Mountain Madness Tournament.

The Bulldogs opened play against Faulkner (1-2), falling 3-1 (25-19, 10-25, 19-25, 16-25), and later faced Oregon Tech (5-1), losing 3-0 (12-25, 15-25, 16-25).

What Happened

Game 1: Faulkner
Union started strong in the opening set with a 13-6 run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Riley Stookey. Both teams traded points until the score reached 13-6. Faulkner responded with a 5-1 run to cut the lead to 14-11, the closest the Eagles would get. The scoring remained back and forth, including a couple of kills from Gabrielly Dos Santos, before Union closed out the set with the final three points to win 25-19.

Set two began close with the score tied at 5-5, but Faulkner pulled away with a dominating 20-4 run to take the set 25-10.

Faulkner came out fast in the third set, taking an 8-2 lead. Union answered with a 10-3 run, including three kills by Emily Shumaker, to take a brief lead at 12-11. However, the Eagles regained control with a 12-4 stretch to go ahead 23-16. Union took three of the final five points but dropped the set 25-19.

In the fourth set, Faulkner opened with a 4-1 run. Union tied it at 4-4 with a kill from Berkli Benefield. But with the help of several aces from Ellie Cyr, the Eagles went on a 10-0 run to make it 14-4. Union responded with a 6-1 run but was outpaced again as Faulkner went on an 8-2 stretch to extend the lead to 23-12. The Bulldogs took four of the final six points, but Faulkner closed out the set 25-16 to win the match 3-1.

Shumaker led Union with eight kills. Benefield added seven, while Dos Santos and Stookey each tallied five.

Game 2: Oregon Tech
In the first set, Union struggled out of the gate, falling behind 16-8. The Bulldogs split the next six points with Oregon Tech, bringing the score to 19-11, but the Owls closed the set on a 6-1 run to win 25-12.

Union opened the second set strong, taking a 13-9 lead behind three kills from Stookey. However, Oregon Tech surged with a 15-2 run to take the set 25-15. Six of those points came from kills, and five were aces.

The third set began with Oregon Tech jumping out to a 14-7 lead. Union cut the deficit to 16-13 but managed just three more points the rest of the way. The Owls finished the set 25-16 to secure the 3-0 match win.

Benefield would be the only Bulldog with more than three kills, with 10 kills in the game. Her performance from both games also put her on the All-Tournament Team.

Up next, the Bulldogs play Carolina (N.C.) on Friday, Aug. 29 at 6:30 p.m. in the Cumberlands Invitational.