CEDARVILLE, Ohio (Volleyball) – The Shawnee State volleyball team outhit Cedarville University .212 to .178, but fell just short in a five-set defeat at the hands of the Blue Jackets on Saturday afternonn at the Callan Athletic Center.
Christina Shelton (SO/West Union, Ohio) recorded a season-high 10 kills and Kristi Humble (SR/West Jefferson, Ohio) added a team-high 12 in the match. The pair were two of four Bears with double-digit kills, as Paige Zelich (SR/Grove City, Ohio) notched 10 and Tiffany Jackson (SR/Williamstown, N.J.) had 11.
Shelton led the way with a .421 attack percentage, as the Bears went back-and-forth with Cedarville in the 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-12 decision.
The Bears struggled in the opening set, hitting just .091 in the frame in defeat. Shawnee fell behind 13-9 in the early going. SSU got as close as 15-14, but could never eclipse the deficit en route to the 25-19 defeat.
Shawnee State looked to be on its heels in the second set, but rebounded in a big way toward the victory. Trailing 17-14, SSU used an 11-5 runs using kills from Zelich and Jackson to win 25-22.
Cedarville answered in the third set, taking a 14-8 advantage, before cruising to the 25-21 win. The Bears were never able to get closer than a three-point deficit.
Two kills from Humble and a service ace from Rhyanna Day (SO/Beaver, Ohio) sent SSU to an early lead in the fourth set, as the Bears jumped ahead 9-3. Cedarville fought back to tie the score at 20 all and took a two point advantage on a Tori Thompson kill.
The Bears answered with kills from Zelich and Day and a pair of aces from Humble to take a 25-23 victory.
The fifth and final set was tight throughout as the two squads played to ties at 1-1, 4-4, 5-5, 8-8 and 10-10. An attack error and a kill from Thompson gave the Blue Jackets the lead for good at 12-10. Hannah Wagner added two kills in the final four plays to send Cedarville to the 15-12 win.
Madison Smith (JR/Orrville, Ohio) recorded 23 digs in the contest to lead the Bears. She has been the digs leader for SSU in all 15 contest. Devan Scarberry (SR/Franklin Furnace, Ohio) led the way with a team-high 25 assists.
SSU returns to Mid-South Conference play for a matchup with the University of Pikeville on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The match will be Muscular Dystrophy Night at Waller Gymnasium with prizes and giveaways for fans and all proceeds going to MDA.
