Portsmouth, Ohio – Shawnee State volleyball were comeback winners on Friday night, defeating Life 3-2 (25-9, 23-25, 16-25, 27-25, 16-14) in Mid-South Conference play.
The Bears would get off to a hot start. After Life took an early 3-1 lead in the first set, Shawnee State would go on an 8-0 run to take a 9-3 lead. From there, Shawnee State would continue to push the lead, as the Bears dominated the first set to win 25-9.
Set two would be back and forth as the two teams traded points. Life would eventually pull away late, getting up 20-14. Shawnee State would attempt a comeback but their efforts would fall short in a 25-23 set two loss.
Set three would see Life take control early, taking a 7-2 lead and never trailing in the set. Set four would be far more competitive, with Life taking an early lead but Shawnee State rallying. The two teams would trade points down the stretch until Life took a 21-19 lead. However, the Bears would eventually tie the score at 22-22, and would push on to win the set 27-25.
With the comeback on, the two teams would go to a decisive fifth set. Life would take an early lead, and hold an 8-6 advantage at the turn. The Running Eagles would push their lead to 13-9 and seemed to have the game in hand. However, Shawnee State would mount a furious rally, scoring five straight points to take a 14-13 lead. The Bears would then finish off the match with two straight points after Life equalized at 14, with Tyanna Smith (JR/Bowling Green, Ohio)'s block ending the match 16-14.
Tyanna Smith and Christina Shelton (SR/Blue Creek, Ohio) were Shawnee State offensive co-leaders on the night, with both getting 16 kills. Brianna Wiget (SR/Piketon, Ohio) added 12 kills, Elaina Davenport (SO/Newark, Ohio) had 39 assists and Stacia Martin (SR/Indianapolis, Indiana) had 26 digs.
Chelsea Hill had a game-high 18 kills to lead Life.
The win improves Shawnee State's record to 8-23 on the year and 2-11 in the Mid-South Conference. Life falls to 17-12 and 5-8 in the league.
Shawnee State volleyball ends the regular season at home on Saturday when they host Cumberlands (Ky.) for senior day. First serve is set for 2:00pm.
