MONTREAT, N.C. – Volleyball got the 2013-14 Shawnee State Athletics' year off to a quick start with a pair of 3-1 victories at Montreat's Volley in the Mountains Tournament Friday afternoon. The Bears started off the day with a 3-1 win over Mount Vernon Nazarene, (18-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-23) before another 3-1 victory over Montreat (25-27 25-19, 25-15, 25-18).
With the win over Mount Vernon Nazarene, the Bears have now won their season opener in back-to-back seasons. They are also 5-1 over the last six seasons in the season openers, improving them to 13-12 all-time in this scenario. The win over Montreat was the first time the Bears have met up with the Cavaliers since former head coach Kristy Kamer left Shawnee State after the 2010 season.
The opening match saw returning All-MSC performer Paige Zelich lead the attack for the Bears as she tallied 12 kills over the four games. Right behind her was Tiffany Jackson with 11 as she hit .450 in her 20 attack chances. Lauren Helbig just missed a double digit kill total in her first collegiate action as she put nine kill attempts away while Kristi Humble and Kirsti Yates killed eight and seven attempts, respectively.
Freshman Bonnie Huesing totaled 23 assists over the course of the opening match while Hannah Gephart recorded 17 helpers. As a team, the Bears limited Mount Vernon Nazarene to just a .168 hitting percentage. In addition to forcing 19 errors, four different players tallied 12-plus digs in the winning effort. Carly Mazza moved from setter a season ago to a more defensive role and led the team with 20 digs. Yates also dug out 19 attack attempts while Gephart (15 digs) and Madison Smith (12 digs) were also consistent throughout the victory.
After a break, the Bears went back on the court against the host Montreat. For the second straight match, the Bears found themselves down early after an extra point loss in the opening game, 27-25. However, they would again rebound as the host Cavaliers did not get over 20 points in any of the remaining three games.
Once again, it was Zelich that led the Bears attack with 14 kills which gave her 26 total for the day. She was the only SSU player to record a double digit total; however, Helbig (seven kills), Jackson (six kills) and Yates (five kills) all contributed key points. Just as key to the Bears' attack were the errors they forced Montreat into committing. The Cavaliers recorded 32 kills compared to the Bears 43 as team and also committed 31 errors while the visitors made just 17 attack errors.
In the second match, it was Gephart that led the team in assists with 18 while Huesing also contributed 14 to the winning effort. Defensively, Mazza's 17 digs led the team for the second straight match while Gephart (16 digs), Smith (13 digs) and Yates (11 digs) gave the Bears four players with double digit digs for the second straight match. The Bears also blocked 11 attacks for points in the win with Humble tallying a team-high six blocks (two unassisted).
The Bears wrap-up their opening weekend tomorrow with two more matches vs. Coastal Georgia (1 p.m.) and Northwood (5 p.m.)
