Portsmouth, Ohio – Shawnee State volleyball fell in their Mid-South Conference opener on Thursday night, losing to #18 Georgetown (Ky.) 3-0 (12-25, 21-25, 21-25) at Waller Gymnasium.
Georgetown would take an early lead in the first set, using four straight points to take a 7-2 lead on Shawnee State, punctuated by a kill by Emma Pike. The Tigers would stay on the attack, eventually pushing the lead to 10 points at 15-5. Georgetown would win the set by 13 points, with Jessica Tapp's kill ending the set at 25-12.
Shawnee State would hold an early lead in set two, going up 3-1. However, Georgetown would eventually take the lead, going up 6-5 on a Tapp kill, and 7-5 on a ball handling error by Elaina Davenport (JR/Newark, Ohio). The set would remain close from there, with Shawnee State hanging on through the mid-part of the set. Georgetown would go up 19-17 late on a Madison Mudd kill, and would hold SSU off, eventually winning the set 25-21, with Pike getting the final point.
Georgetown would again take an early lead in the third set, and hold Shawnee State at arms' length for the rest of the match. SSU would cut the Georgetown lead to 16-14 on a Carson Roney (JR/Waverly, Ohio) kill, but Georgetown would score three straight to go up 19-14. The Tigers would hold off Shawnee State from there, and a Roney attack error would end the match with a 25-21 third set win for Georgetown.
Carson Roney had nine kills to lead the Bears attack, followed by Tyanna Smith (SR/Bowling Green, Ohio) with seven and Macie Rhoads (FR/Circleville, Ohio) with six. Emily Cooper (FR/Hamersville, Ohio) led the setters with 18 assists and Madison Knipp (SR/Beaver, Ohio) had 13 digs.
Madison Mudd had a match-high 13 kills to lead Georgetown. Sarah Bell had 39 assists, and Lexie Gatewood led three double-digit defenders with 14 digs.
The loss drops Shawnee State to 5-4 on the season and to 0-1 in the Mid-South Conference. Georgetown improve to 7-1 and to 1-0 in the league. The Tigers now lead the all-time series 18-2.
Shawnee State volleyball returns to action on Friday, September 7 with a doubleheader against NCAA Division II opponent Urbana (Ohio). First serve from Waller Gymnasium is set for 5:30pm and 7:30pm.
