LEBANON, Tenn. – Volleyball swept both its matches on Saturday at the Cumberland Classic to finish 3-1 on the weekend. The Bears (11-4) swept their opponents in all three of their victories. Shawnee State opened with a win over Martin Methodist (4-10) by scores of 25-22, 25-16 and 25-21. That was followed by the team's eighth sweep in 11 victories this season over a tough Webber International (9-5) team (25-23, 25-21, 25-23) that refused to go away despite huge leads by SSU in each set. The 3-1 weekend record gives Shawnee State its third straight runner-up finish in as many tournament weekends.
Although the Bears opened with a sweep against Martin Methodist, they took a little time to mesh in the opening game. After taking four of the first six points, Shawnee State found itself down 12-4, as the Red Hawks ran off 10 straight points to take a commanding lead in the first set. SSU would close the gap slightly, but things were still looking bleak at 19-13. Service by Alex Pohl would get the match to 19-15. After trading side-outs, Carly Mazza's service would get the match within a point, 20-19.
After knotting the set at 21 and 22-all, Kirsti Yates would end it with three straight service points, including two aces during that time to help put her team up a game. From their largest deficit of eight during the opening set, the Bears took 21 of the final 31 points. This included a 10-2 run to close the first.
The second set saw the Bears jump out to an early lead with five straight service points from Hannah Gephart. They would hold a similar edge throughout most of the second set. After a SSU side-out made it 17-11, Gephart would rotate back around to server. Her services gave the squad a 22-11 lead and SSU would coast to the two-set lead. The third and final set would be tied at six different times. At 15-all – the final time which the set was tied - SSU would take 10 of the final 16 points.
In the match with Martin Methodist, Shawnee State hit .288, including a .444 percentage in the middle game, while holding their opponents to just a .158 average. The Red Hawks hit just .071 and .125 over the last two sets. Paige Zelich and Ashley Galbraith each totaled a team-high six kills. They were two of eight players with at least three kills during the match. Gephart finished with a team-high 11 assists, while Mazza added nine more. Yates finished with a team-high five of SSU's 12 service aces to go along with a match-high 12 digs.
The match with Webber International was a sweep, but not one of the three sets were decided by more than four points and two of those were decided by the minimal two. In the opening game against Webber International, the Bears jumped up early and held a five-point advantage for a large portion of the opening game. The largest lead Shawnee State held in the set was eight, at 20-12; however, the Warriors would rally and end up holding a lead at 22-21. Tied at 23-all, the Bears would hold on for the last two points to take the opening set.
For the second straight game, SSU would go up 20-12 on Webber International. The Warriors would again make a late run to get the lead cut to three, 23-20, but SSU would not let them get any closer to go up 2-0. The Bears also held an eight-point lead in the third and final game, 16-8. A third Warriors' late rally in as many games cut the SSU lead to 22-21. A pair of side-outs from each team would bring the match to 24-23, and with Webber International needing a point to extend the match it committed a service error and Shawnee State escaped the match unharmed despite the three consecutive close calls.
In the final match of the weekend, Pohl and Zelich each finished with a team-high seven kills. Kelsey Bielanow, Tiffany Jackson and Galbraith each added five more. Jackson had two solo blocks, while Devan Scarberry and Pohl teamed up for two block assists. Gephart (15 assists) and Mazza (14 assists) split the setting duties, while Yates recorded 14 digs and was one of four SSU players with at least six digs in the match. That defensive effort helped contain Webber International to just a .028 hitting percentage on the day.
After another solid weekend on the courts, the Bears now turn their attention back to MSC play this Tuesday at UVA-Wise. That match will begin at 6:30 p.m.
