GEORGETOWN, Ky. – After dropping a tough opening game to Union College on Friday afternoon, volleyball rebounded nicely with six straight game victories to go a perfect 2-0 on the opening day of the Rumpke Invitational. The Bears (6-1) will now play Georgetown College tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. in hopes of finishing off a 3-0 weekend.
After losing their first game to Union College (3-6) by a score of 25-21, the Bears took two straight games by 25-17 scores and sealed the match with a 25-22 win in the clinching game. Despite the break in between matches, Shawnee State was still able to carry that momentum into the evening match with St. Andrews (0-7). The Bears allowed just 30 points over three games in that match to claim their second win of the day (25-10, 25-8. 25-12).
Starting off with Union College, the Bears finished the first game with a .152 hitting percentage. However, they would quickly turn that around in the second with a .394 average. Helping to turn the momentum in their favor were freshman Ashley Galbraith and sophomore Paige Zelich, who finished with four and five kills, respectively, in the second. The third game was a total team effort as seven different players recorded attack kills. At the net, sophomores Kelsey Bielanow and Tiffany Jackson each chipped in with three block assists.
In the clinching game, it was Zelich that once again took the lead in the attack with five kills in the final game. She would finish with a team-high 14 kills against just three errors in 31 chances, a .355 percentage. Senior Alex Pohl also finished with a very consistent performance, killing eight of her 16 attempts with just one error for a .438 hitting mark.
Junior Hannah Gephart completed the first match with a team-high 21 set assists, while fellow junior Carly Mazza totaled 14 in the opener. Kirsti Yates also turned in her traditional strong defensive performance by digging out 29 attacks, while freshman Madison Smith finished with 15 digs.
In the evening match with St. Andrews, the Bears started strong with a .483 hitting percentage in the opening game and did not let up. Leading the way was Pohl, who had 11 kills in 23 attempts. Zelich added six more, while Bielanow and Jackson each had five. Adding lofty hitting percentages were Gephart, who killed four of her six attempts, and Janine Grey, who recorded a kill on each of her three attempts.
The Bears also totaled eight service aces, led by Abbi Morrow's three. Gephart added 15 set assists, while Mazza finished the match with 10. Also of note, Kristi Humble saw her first action since transferring in. She finished with three kills and assisted on a block.
The Bears will now turn their attention to tomorrow's match with Georgetown. Although this will not count as an official Mid-South game in the standings, it will be a good gauge for the Bears as Georgetown was just one spot outside of the Top 25 poll this past week. A win over the hosts would also cap a perfect 3-0 weekend.
