Fort Wayne, Ind. – Shawnee State volleyball split the first day of the Liz Lykowski Memorial Tournament on Friday, falling to Madonna (Mich.) 3-0 (9-25, 22-25, 22-25) but rebounding to defeat Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-19).
Game One
Shawnee State and Madonna would trade points to begin the first set, with the Bears taking an early 4-3 lead. However, Madonna would then rally for a 6-0 run, capped by three kills from Erica LaBaere, to take a 9-4 lead. After Shawnee State rallied to cut the lead to 9-6, Madonna would rally for eight straight points, getting a 17-6 stranglehold on the set. The Crusaders would then win the last six points of the set to win the first set 25-9.
Set two would stay close the whole way as Shawnee State recovered from the first set blowout. Trailing 17-13, SSU would rally back with four straight points to tie the game at 17-17, capped by Emily Cooper (FR/Hamersville, Ohio)'s service ace. The Bears would then take the lead, going up 21-19 on kills by Macie Rhoads (FR/Circleville, Ohio) and Carson Roney (JR/Waverly, Ohio). However, Madonna would respond late, scoring the last five points of the set to win set two 25-22.
Madonna would use that momentum to lead for the majority of the third set, racing out to a 16-7 lead. Shawnee State would then rally, scoring four straight points to cut the lead to 16-11. After Madonna pushed the lead back out to 20-13, SSU would score six straight points, with a pair of Tyanna Smith (SR/Bowling Green, Ohio) kills cutting Madonna's lead to 20-19. However, the Crusaders would keep their noses in front and close out the set, with Yogi Hang's kill ending the set in a 25-22 victory for Madonna and a 3-0 win for the Crusaders.
Macie Rhoads had 13 kills to lead Shawnee State, with Tyanna Smith adding 11 for the Bears. Emily Cooper had 22 assists, and Stacia Martin (JR/Indianapolis, Indiana) had 13 digs.
Jodie Kelly had 12 kills for Madonna, with Nyla Greer adding 10. Lauren Korth had 38 assists for the Crusaders, and also led Madonna with 11 digs.
Game Two
Shawnee State would fall behind early in set one, trailing Lindenwood-Belleville 6-3. However, the Bears would turn the set around, using to Lynx attack errors to tie the score, then taking the lead on a service ace by Macie Rhoads. SSU would not trail again, keeping out in front and pulling away from Lindenwood-Belleville down the stretch. A Briana Webb attack error would end the set in a 25-16 victory for Shawnee State.
The Bears would go up big early in the second set, scoring the first six points to go up 6-0 on Belleville. That momentum would carry Shawnee State out to a 12-point lead, with a Diana Shamroski attack error putting SSU up 15-3. Lindenwood-Belleville would go on a 7-0 run to rally back into the set, but SSU would keep their noses in front, holding the Lynx at bay until late in the set. Nashail Shelby (FR/Mansfield, Ohio) would seal the set with a kill, giving Shawnee State a 25-21 win in the second set.
The third set would remain close as well, with Lindenwood-Belleville taking an early 8-7 lead on Shawnee State. However, the Bears would rally back in front, with a Tyanna Smith kill eventually giving Shawnee State a 14-12 lead. After a Reggie Debenedetto kill cut the lead to one, SSU would score four straight points, capped by Debenedetto giving the point back on a ball handling error. SSU would close out the set from there, as Carson Roney's kill to end the set gave Shawnee State a 25-19 win in the set and a 3-0 win in the match to earn a first day split at Indiana Tech.
Carson Roney had 11 kills to lead the attack for Shawnee State. Elaina Davenport (JR/Newark, Ohio) had 13 assists, and Stacia Martin added 15 digs for the Bears.
Diana Shamroski had eight kills to lead Lindenwood-Belleville. Kourtney Knox had 13 assists, and Emily Schaller had 12 digs for the Lynx.
The split moves Shawnee State to 11-13 on the season.
Shawnee State volleyball returns to action on Saturday, October 13 for day two of the Liz Lykowski Memorial Tournament. The Bears take on Taylor (Ind.) at 12:00pm, and have had their match against hosts Indiana Tech moved to 4:00pm.
