Portsmouth, Ohio – Shawnee State volleyball snapped a four-match losing streak on Tuesday night, sweeping Pikeville 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 28-26) at Waller Gymnasium.
The first set would begin tight, as the two teams would trade points into an 11-11 tie. Pikeville would edge in front on a kill by Hunter Clewis to go ahead 13-11, but four straight points for SSU would put the Bears in front 15-13, a lead they would not relinquish. After Pikeville scored a point to snap the streak, SSU again scored four straight to go up 19-14. Pikeville would battle back, cutting the lead to 23-22 late, but a Carson Roney (JR/Waverly, Ohio) kill would end the set in a 25-23 Shawnee State victory.
The second set would again be a battle, as both teams could get no separation, playing to a 15-15 tie. Shawnee State would finally get their noses in front, going up 17-15on two errors by Pikeville. The two teams would trade the next three points before SSU began a four-point run, with two Noelani Simpson attack errors and a service ace from Emily Cooper (FR/Hamersville, Ohio). SSU would hold off Pikeville to win the set, with Brittany Reels' service error giving Shawnee State a 25-20 win in the second set.
Shawnee State would take an early lead in the third set, going up 4-1. That lead would eventually grow to 11-5 before a Pikeville timeout. The timeout would spark a Pikeville comeback, as the Bears would get back into the set, cutting the Shawnee State lead to 15-13. SSU would get the lead back out to 18-13, with Macie Rhoads (FR/Circleville, Ohio) getting a pair of kills, but Pikeville would again roar back to get the lead to 18-16. Shawnee State would force some breathing room late at 23-19, but Pikeville again battled back, winning six of the next seven points to take a 25-24 lead. Shawnee State would battle back into the lead, with Roney getting a kill and Simpson an attack error, only for Pikeville to get a point on a Rhoads attack error to tie the set back up at 26-26. However, Shawnee State would get the last two points of the set, with Kyra Harmon getting a service error and Rhoads closing the match with a kill, giving SSU a 28-26 win in the set and a 3-0 win in the match.
Macie Rhoads led SSU with 14 kills, and Tyanna Smith (SR/Bowling Green, Ohio) had 11. Elaina Davenport (JR/Newark, Ohio) led the Bears with 19 assists, and Madison Knipp (SR/Beaver, Ohio) led with 13 digs. SSU had eight total blocks, led by Carson Roney with one solo block and two block assists.
Noelani Simpson had 13 kills and 11 digs to lead Pikeville. Sierra Conn had 17 assists for UPike.
The win improves Shawnee State to 12-17 on the season, and to 2-9 in the Mid-South Conference. Pikeville falls to 9-21, and to 0-12 in the league.
Shawnee State volleyball returns to action on Friday, October 26 when they take on Campbellsville. First serve is set for 6:00pm.
