Despite strong efforts from each of its Big Three (Maria Kolinoff, Stacia Martin, and Macie Rhoads), the volleyball program at Shawnee State University wasn't able to claim victory as the Bears dropped a four-set decision to the Cumberland (Tenn.) Phoenix volleyball program in a Mid-South Conference matchup that was held in Lebanon, Tenn. on Friday evening.
Even in its four-set loss, SSU, again, showed promise throughout -- which was especially evident in the first and second sets -- as the Bears, down 9-3 to begin the match, rallied on a kill each from Nashail Shelby, Bella Gill, Miranda Hickey, and Kolinoff en route to tying the first set score at 11 apiece. However, following a 7-0 run by the Phoenix that led to an 18-11 advantage for Cumberland (Tenn.), SSU was forced to regroup after dropping the opening set by a 25-18 count.
In the second frame, Shawnee State did exactly that as the Bears used two kills from Rhoads, a kill from Gill, and a combined block from Rhoads and Shelby en route to taking a 6-4 lead in the first set after tying or trading the lead with Cumberland over the first five volleys of action.
Throughout the second frame, the Phoenix kept the heat on the Bears, but despite tying or trading the lead 18 additional times with SSU, Susan Shelton's group held firm in the second stanza as a key 5-2 run off of two Rhoads kills and a Kolinoff service ace, a second combined block from Shelby and Rhoads that gave the Bears the lead back after briefly losing it, 14-13, in the middle of the second frame, and a 7-2 spurt that allowed SSU to distance itself while obtaining the lead a second time behind a kill each from Kolinoff and Shelby and two kills from Alissa Kefauver, were paramount in the Bears' 25-23 second set victory that allowed SSU to knot the score at one apiece.
The light that was provided from the excellent second set resiliency, however, quickly faded.
In the third frame of action, Shawnee State committed 10 attack errors and obtained nine kills as the Bears hit in the negatives, while Cumberland posted its highest attack percentage in any set played on the evening by notching 11 kills and committing two attack errors en route to a .300 attack percentage in a 25-12 decision that put SSU behind by a 2-1 margin.
SSU regrouped in the final set of action as the Bears kept Cumberland honest via three kills from Rhoads, which allowed Shawnee State to kept the match tightly contested en route to playing to a tight 8-6 margin early in the fourth set of play. However, two separate runs by the Phoenix kept the Bears at bay the rest of the way, as spurts of 4-0 and 5-1 by Cumberland -- aided by four attack errors and a setting error from SSU -- allowed Cumberland to take the fourth set (25-17), along with the match (3-1).
For the match, the Bears hit just .080 while Cumberland hit .216 as a unit. Still, Shawnee State got splendid efforts, especially from Martin, who starred defensively with 26 digs, Rhoads, who added in 13 kills, five digs, and three assisted blocks while hitting .200 for the match, and Kolinoff, who posted an outstanding 32-assist, 15-dig match on the evening.
With the loss, Shawnee State fell to 6-18 overall. The Bears will take on Lindsey Wilson at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT on Saturday in Columbia, Ky. in what will be the program's second Mid-South Conference matchup in as many days.
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