DEARBORN, Mich – With a split of its two matches on Saturday, volleyball finished runner-up at the Earlybird Tournament. Shawnee State (3-1) started the day off with a four-set win over Trinity Christian, 18-25, 25-21, 25-21 and 25-13. However, the three match unbeaten streak to start the season would end there is the Bears fell to the host Michigan-Dearborn in straight games (27-25, 25-14 and 25-21).
In addition to the trophy for the team's runner-up finish, senior Alex Pohl brought home individual hardware as she was named to the All-Tournament team for her play this weekend.
The Bears came into Saturday's action winners of all six sets that they had played on Friday night. Nonetheless, it was Shawnee State that found itself down early. The Bears finished the opening set with a .235 hitting percentage which was largely down due to five attack errors. In the second through fourth sets, the Bears regrouped and finished with hitting percentages of .342, .432 and .517, respectively. In those final three sets, Shawnee State committed just four attack errors total.
Freshman Ashley Galbraith finished the first match with an individual hitting percentage of .500, recording a team-high 14 kills in 28 attempts. Sophomore Paige Zelich and Pohl each added 11 kills to the winning effort. Both Zelich and Pohl saved their best performances of that match for the fourth set where they each recorded four kills along with Galbraith and sophomore Kelsey Bielanow. Setting the hitters up all morning was junior Carly Mazza, who recorded 26 total assists including eight a piece in the first and third sets. Junior Hannah Gephart also added 18 assists. Her classmate, Kirsti Yates, finished the match with 19 digs, 13 of which came in the first two sets.
In the match against Michigan-Dearborn, Shawnee State found itself in a battle right from the opening point. The Bears and Wolves found themselves locked at 24 and 25-all before Michigan-Dearborn took the final two points and jumped to the early advantage. A tough second set would put the Bears down 2-0 before the Wolves closed the match with a 25-21 third set win.
During their final match of the weekend, the Bears held the hosts to just a .181 hitting percentage but were undone by 16 attack errors, eight service errors and six ball handling errors. Abbi Morrow was a big part in holding the Wolves' attack at bay with a team-high eight digs in the match. For the Bears' attack, Pohl finished with a team-high seven kills. She also tallied two solo blocks and assisted on two more. Gephart and Mazza finished with 13 and 11 assists, respectively.
The Bears will now have a week and a half away from competition to get ready for the MSC opener against Rio Grande. That match will be on Wednesday, September 5 at 7 p.m. in Waller Gymnasium and be the team's first chance to play in front of the home crowd.
