GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. Volleyball was dealt a pair of tough losses on the opening day of the Aquinas/Cornerstone Challenge Friday night in Michigan. The Bears (19-11) fell to Mount Vernon Nazarene (20-12) in four sets (25-20, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21) to start the day. In the second match Friday night, SSU dropped a five setter to Cornerstone (21-7), 25-17, 19-25, 25-17, 27-29, 15-11.
Earlier in the year, Shawnee State defeated Mount Vernon Nazarene in five sets when they came from down 2-1 on their home court. In the neutral site meeting, the Bears could not pull off that same comeback as they won the third set (SSU won the first, fourth and fifth sets in the previous meeting) but had that third set score on Friday turned around on them in the fourth.
In the opening match, Ashley Galbraith finished with a team-high 12 kills. Kelsey Bielanow just missed a double-digit mark with nine kills. Devan Scarberry added six more, while three players finished with five. Hannah Gephart (22 assists) and Carly Mazza (19 assists) handled the primary setting duties.
Four different Bears finished with two service aces (Abbi Morrow, Kirsti Yates, Gephart and Bielanow). Yates also finished with a match-high 35 digs. Madison Smith added 12 digs, while Gephart also dug out 10 kill tries. The Bears also recorded eight blocks, including solo efforts from Kristi Humble, Holly Tobias and Scarberry.
The second match saw the Bears claw back from down a set after both the first and third games, including a thrilling 29-27 win to extend the match in the fourth. However, the trading of sets would come back to haunt them in the fifth as they fell in the decisive set. The match was the fifth time this season the Bears have had to go the full five games.
For the second straight match, it was Galbraith that led the attack with a team-high 14 kills. Humble and Scarberry each had double-figure kill days with 11 and 10, respectively. Gephart and Mazza, 26 and 18 assists, respectively, set them up but the Bears were just unable to stop the Cornerstone attack that hit .331 for the match and below .300 in only two sets.
Yates added four more service aces in the second, a match high, and added a team-high 19 digs to her team's efforts and successfully received 41 of the 42 serves directed at her. SSU added 11 more blocks in the second match. Humble and Bielanow led the way with a match-high five each. Both players finished with three solo blocks.
SSU will be back in action tomorrow morning against Grace at 10 a.m. After that match is completed, volleyball will wrap up the four-match weekend with a meeting against Marygrove at noon.
