MONTREAT, N.C. (Volleyball) – The Shawnee State University volleyball squad thoroughly dominated play over the first day in the Volley of the Mountains tournament, winning six out of seven sets en route to a 3-1 victory over Martin Methodist in the 3 p.m. matchup and sweeping Montreat by a 3-0 count in the second tilt at 7 p.m. Friday evening.
In the first match, the Bears fell behind early and lost the first set 19-25 to the RedHawks to start play on the afternoon. However, the Bears quickly regrouped, winning each of the next three sets (25-23, 25-18, and 27-25) to quickly dispose of Martin Methodist from there.
Lauren Helbig quickly starred from the get-go, recording 17 kills and amassing a hair-raising .520 attack percentage. Christina Shelton was right behind Helbig with 15 kills, while the sophomore duo of Hayley Carle and Briana Wiget added eight apiece.
Bonnie Huesing was there to set up the offensive attack as the junior racked up 45 assists against the RedHawks, while Madison Smith led the backline in digs with 38. Wiget, Shelton, and Huesing also obtained double-figure totals in digs, with 19, 14, and 11, respectively.
Shawnee State didn't waste any time establishing its offensive attack in the second set, as the Bears dominated Montreat right from the opening serve in sweeping the three-set match (25-10, 25-19, 25-22).
As with the first match, Helbig set the tone in the second bout with nine kills, six total blocks, four digs and an attack percentage of .364 to lead Shawnee State on the frontline. Wiget followed Helbig with eight kills and eight digs. Shelton would add six kills of her own and Carle recorded four kills and four digs on a .667 attack percentage. Rhyanna Day recorded seven kills while Smith put up four more in the match. As with the first match, Huesing would be the main distributor in the second set, with 25 assists.
In both matches, the Bears recorded an attack percentage of over .200 as a team while also posting 137 digs and 79 assists. Helbig's 26 kills and seven blocks led Shawnee State in both categories, while Huesing racked up a total of 70 assists between the two matches. On the defensive side, Smith's 42 digs led the way for the Bears, while Wiget finished with 26 of her own.
Shawnee State will be back in action Saturday morning in the Volley of the Mountains Tournament as the Bears will take on archrival Rio Grande at 11 a.m. and will turn right around to play a tilt at Asbury at 1 p.m.
