WALESKA, Ga. - CIU volleyball traveled to Reinhardt (Ga.) on Saturday to take on the Eagles and would unexpectedly fall in a difficult five-set match 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-27,.13-15) The loss is the first in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) and the Rams' first since being ranked in the NAIA top 25. With the loss, CIU moves to 20-7 overall and 10-1 in the conference. 

The match was a battle from the outset as Reinhardt took the first set, and then the Rams took the next two. The fourth set was an absolute battle for both teams, with the Eagles narrowly pulling out the win. Another hard-fought set followed before CIU eventually succumbed and received the loss. 

The win was highlighted by Kira Rymer, who set the CIU single-match record for kills recording an eye-popping 34 with a .574 hitting percentage. The offensive cause was furthered by Kamelia De Jesus, who had another 50-plus assist outing with 53 on the afternoon. The Rams had four players with double-digit digs, including De Jesus, as the defensive effort was championed by Kelcey Mangum, who had 27 digs. Veteran senior Jadaeya Morrell stuffed the stat sheet with nine kills and seven blocks. The Rams had six service aces as a team. 

What Coach Amber Haver is saying: Look, it's a tough one. We outscored them 91-74 and still came away with a loss. We've been playing through some illness and adversity, but great teams need to be able to overcome that. We failed to do so today. Credit to Reinhardt for working through their own adversity and capitalizing on major and significant errors we were making. They exposed some weaknesses on our side. We have some work to do to prevent that from happening again. Very costly loss for us, but I am confident this loss will make us better. Looking forward to getting back in the gym and putting in the work.

Up Next: CIU will head back to Georgia to take on Brenau University on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 6:30 PM.