LEBANON, Tenn. (Volleyball) – The Shawnee State volleyball program obtained another impressive performance from Ashley Galbraith (SR/Mansfield, Ohio) – 10 kills, zero attack errors – as well as 18 more kills from Miranda Clark (JR/Chillicothe, Ohio) and Lauren Helbig (JR/Mansfield, Ohio) – but the Bears could not come up with the key points when they mattered most as Shawnee State fell to Cumberland (Tenn.) by a 3-0 (21-25, 21-25, 32-34) count in a Mid-South Conference contest at the Dallas Floyd Recreation Center in Lebanon, Tenn. on Friday evening.
On the frontline, the Bears (15-15, 4-11 Mid-South) put together a good performance as Shawnee State grabbed a .239 attack percentage. However, the Bears' aforementioned attack percentage was edged by the Bulldogs' (15-16, 7-9 Mid-South) .257, while also being outnumbered in the digs (65 to 53) and assists (50 to 30) categories by Cumberland as well.
In the first set, the Bears would be forced to come from behind early as the Bulldogs jumped out to an 8-4 lead. However, Shawnee State would prove early and often that coming from behind would not be a problem as the Bears reeled off a 12-7 advantage via a trio of kills from Clark and two kills from Galbraith to take a 16-15 edge over halfway through the first frame of play.
Even though Cumberland would rip off a 4-1 run to take a 19-17 lead, Shawnee State wouldn't give in as the Bears responded with a 3-0 tilt of its own to retake the advantage in grabbing a 20-19 edge.
Shawnee State, however, couldn't keep the momentum going as Cumberland would score on six of the set's final seven volleys via a pair of kills from Amanda Worrell and Ashley Sherrick in taking the first set by a 25-21 tally.
The second frame would see the Bears stay within striking distance of the Bulldogs throughout the first 23 volleys of the set, as Shawnee State never allowed the deficit to swell to more than three points during that stretch.
Following the 23rd point of the frame, the Bears would go on its largest run of the contest as Shawnee State used two additional kills by Galbraith to take the lead once more in grabbing a 15-13 advantage.
As with the first tilt, Cumberland would respond in the second frame of action with another small burst, this time a 4-0 run, to take a 17-15 edge. From that point forward, Shawnee State would never get closer than a two-point deficit as the Bulldogs edged the Bears on volleys by an 8-6 margin to end the set's scoring.
Both squads came out firing to start the third and final frame of action as the pair spent the first 13 volleys trading the lead back and forth before Shawnee State used a kill from Brittany Mounts (JR/Beaver, Ohio), an assisted block from Mounts and Galbraith, and a service ace from Christina Shelton (JR/West Union, Ohio) to go on a 4-0 run, obtaining a 10-7 advantage in the process.
Cumberland would then make up the gap by going on a 3-0 tilt to tie the score at 10 aside, and four the next four volleys following the 10-all score, both teams would trade the lead before the Bears went on a 3-0 run of its own off of a kill apiece from Galbraith and Lauren Helbig, as well as an assisted block by Helbig and Bonnie Huesing (JR/Mason, Ohio), to take a 15-12 advantage.
Behind two kills from Helbig, the Shawnee State lead would continue to hold stationary at a 19-16 edge until the Bulldogs suddenly went on a 4-0 spurt behind two Bears' errors as Cumberland took the lead back with the tally now 20-19 in favor of the Bulldogs.
A kill each from Clark and Shelton to give Shawnee State the edge was quickly followed by another two point spurt from Cumberland as the game went to a 22-21 tilt, with the Bulldogs pushing the lead to a 24-22 tally after a Jena Goodman service ace and a Maci Lerno kill. With the match on the line, the Bears would answer in a big way as a Galbraith kill and a Cassidy Shell (FR/New Lebanon, Ohio) service ace forced the third set into extra volleys.
From there, both squads would provide the fans in attendance with a thrilling show as in the following 14 volleys, Cumberland and Shawnee State would answer each other's point with a point of their own to send the contest into a 31-all tie.
After another block assist by Helbig and Huesing, it seemed as if the Bears finally had the upper hand in the third set as Shawnee State led by a 32-31 tally and needed just one more point to send the contest to a fourth set.
However, the Bulldogs would respond with a vengeance, as kills from Worrell and Michelle Evans would give Cumberland the lead and another error by the Bears would give the Bulldogs the 34-32 victory to end the third set as well as the match.
Offensively, Shawnee State would be led by Galbrath's 10 kills and .385 attack percentage as the Mansfield, Ohio native didn't commit a single error in 26 attack chances. Helbig and Clark would add nine kills apiece on .316 and .261 attack percentages, respectively, while Huesing put up 28 assists to head the Bears' offensive attack.
Defensively, Madison Smith (SR/Orrville, Ohio) would pace the Bears with 20 digs, while Helbig, Huesing, and Mounts would combine to obtain five blocks on the evening.
Shawnee State will close out Mid-South Conference play, as well as its regular season schedule, on Saturday afternoon as the Bears will face the No. 2-ranked team in the NAIA in Lindsey Wilson. The contest, which will be played in Columbia, Ky., is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start – 12 p.m. CST.
