BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (Volleyball) – The Shawnee State volleyball team trailed just once the entire match – a 1-0 deficit in the third set – as the Bears cruised to an opening-round victory, 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-19), over the University of Pikeville in the Mid-South Conference Championships on Thursday afternoon at South Warren High School.
Three separate SSU players – Christina Shelton (JR/West Union, Ohio), Ashley Galbraith (SR/Mansfield, Ohio) and Miranda Clark (JR/Chillicothe, Ohio) – recorded 11 kills in the match, as the Bears hit a combined season-best .398 in the victory.
SSU was led by a double-double from Bonnie Huesing (JR/Mason, Ohio), who notched team highs in assists (37) and digs (14), and Madison Smith (SR/Orrville, Ohio) added 12 digs of her own. The Bears were 47-of-98 on the attack with just eight errors in the straight-set win.
UPike's Sydney Hall led the Bears with eight kills, while Savanna Zakman notched 22 assists.
The Bears sprung out of the gates in set one, opening the frame on a 12-1 run to take total control of the match from the opening serve. The squad was dominant throughout the entire set, cruising to a 25-10 victory.
Shelton tallied an emphatic five kills on just seven attacks – closing with the final point of the set to put it away. Lauren Helbig (JR/Mansfield, Ohio) and Clark each got in on the action, as well, notching four kills apiece.
Set two proved a little tougher as Pikeville was finally able to get into an offensive rhythm. Though Shawnee State never trailed in the set, the lead never ballooned to more than three until the waning moments.
Following a service ace from UPike's Connor Cook to bring the contest to one at 17-16, SSU took control. An ace from Rhyanna Day (JR/Beaver, Ohio) made it 19-16, and the Bears took advantage of an attack error to make it 20-16.
With the score at 20-17, Galbraith tallied back-to-back kills, UPike committed another attack error and Brittany Mounts (JR/Beaver, Ohio) put the set away with a kill to bring the set two final to 25-18.
Galbraith led the way in the set with five kills, while Shelton, Helbig and Clark each tallied two.
The third set seemed all but an afterthought, as Shawnee State jumped out to an 8-3 advantage on the back of two Shelton kills, two Huesing aces and kills from Clark and Helbig.
But UPike was not content to let the season end without a fight. Trailing 12-6, the Bears rattled off five-straight points to cut the deficit to one and force an SSU timeout.
The timeout clearly settled SSU, however the two squads would exchange points over the next several serves. Holding on to an 18-16 lead, Shawnee State landed a kill from Galbraith and capitalized on an attack error to push the advantage to four.
Following a kill from Helbig to set up match point, the junior – along with Huesing successfully blocked a Cook attack to put it away, 25-19.
Shawnee State will immediately turn focus to top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Lindsey Wilson. The quarterfinal match is set to begin at 8 p.m. CT.
