PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (Volleyball) – Paige Zelich (SR/Grove City, Ohio)'s kill to take a 28-26 victory in the second set marked the 1,000th career kill for the senior, as Shawnee State avoided its seventh straight defeat, winning, 3-1, over Campbellsville University on Thursday night at Frank and Janis Waller Gymnasium.
The Mid-South Conference victory pushed the Bears (12-13, 5-4 Mid-South) into a stronghold for fourth place in the conference, holding a 1.5 game advantage over the fifth-ranked University of the Cumberlands.
Zelich and Tiffany Jackson (SR/Williamstown, N.J.) each notched 13 kills to pace the home squad, while Kristi Humble (SR/West Jefferson, Ohio) added double-digit kills, as well, with 11. Devan Scarberry (SR/Franklin Furnace, Ohio) recorded a team-high 25 assists, and Madison Smith (JR/Orrville, Ohio) tallied a match-high 42 digs.
The Bears came into the match looking to break out of a six-game losing spell, and got off on the right foot with a 25-23 victory in the opening set.
Campbellsville (7-22, 3-7) jumped out to an early advantage at 7-9, but Shawnee State pushed right back with a 5-0 run, culminating with a kill from Miranda Clark (SO/Chillicothe, Ohio). Zelich, Humble and Jackson each added kills amongst a kill from the Tigers' Rachel DeCoursey to put the Bears ahead 18-14.
SSU kept a three-point advantage to a 23-20 score, but the Tigers answered with a pair of kills before an attack error from the home squad knotted the match at 23 to force a timeout from Bears' head coach Susan Shelton.
The Bears answered the call, scoring the final two points – a service error and an attack error from CU – to earn the first-set victory.
Campbellsville again jumped out to an early lead in the second set, as a 5-0 run from the visitors forced another SSU timeout with the score 11-8 in favor of the visitors. CU did not let up, adding a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 17-10.
The Bears answered with a roar, scoring six straight points, including a pair of kills from Zelich and another from Humble, as SSU cut the deficit to one at 18-17. Shawnee State finally drew the game even at 23 with an error from CU.
The set then saw ties at 24, 25 and 26 before the Bears were able to take the victory. It took an attack error from the Tigers, before Zelich's kill to bring the game to an end. The kill marked number 1,000 in Zelich's four-year career.
The Bears' early-set woes finally caught up in the third set, as Campbellsville got on the scoreboard with a 26-24 win. SSU was unable to erase a four-point deficit late – though not without a valiant effort.
Shawnee State trailed 23-19 before rattling off three straight points to make it 23-22, and two of the next three to lock the set at 24. But it was the tigers who answered this time, scoring the final two points for the win.
After falling in another early hole, SSU left little doubt in the latter half of the final set, breaking out for a 25-19 victory. The Bears used a pair of 4-0 runs to erase a deficit ant take a 20-16 lead to grab control.
With a service error, a kill from Clark and a service ace from Scarberry, the Bears used a 3-0 run to put the match to bed in the fourth-set win.
The Bears are back in action Friday, as part of an action-packed long weekend for SSU. Shawnee State will travel south to take on No. 8 Lindsey Wilson College at 7 p.m. before a 3 p.m. bout with Cumberland University on Saturday.
