Shawnee State University senior libero/defensive specialist Stacia Martin eclipsed the 1,000 dig total for her career and Macie Rhoads and Maria Kolinoff set career highs with 21 kills and 45 assists, respectively, against Point Park (Pa.) on Friday evening, but the volleyball program at Shawnee State University dropped its opening pair of contests in the Emileigh Cooper Memorial Classic to West Virginia Tech and Point Park (Pa.) on Friday evening, as the Bears lost to the Golden Bears by a 3-1 tally (25-20, 17-25, 18-25, 21-25) and fell to the Pioneers in a 3-2 heartbreaker (21-25, 26-24, 25-16, 16-25, 10-15) at Jackson High School in Jackson.
Over the initial set of action in its first contest against West Virginia Tech, Shawnee State looked like it would be a force to be reckoned with, especially behind the play of Rhoads.
The sophomore, who posted 13 kills and 16 digs to accumulate a double-double in the match, put together three kills and an ace during a game-opening 9-4 run by the Bears. West Virginia Tech cut the lead to four at three different points during the middle portion of the first set, but two key service aces by Maddie Payne and Alexa Ball, along with a kill by Alissa Kefauver, kept the Golden Bears at bay, while a 5-1 run by SSU that was led by two kills each from Kefauver and Kolinoff, in addition to another kill from Rhoads, helped finish the first set off in SSU's favor by a 25-20 margin.
Neither one of the following pair of sets, however, were as kind to the Bears. In the second set of action, West Virginia Tech flipped the script and went on a 10-3 run, with Shawnee State never getting any closer than six points away in a 25-17 second set loss. SSU then kept the third set within two volleys -- 7-5 -- over the opening dozen salvos in the third frame, then after falling behind by a 11-6 margin, used a 7-2 run fueled by a Carson Isaac kill that tied the score at 13 apiece. A second kill by Isaac and another spike from Rhoads later on in the frame, however, wasn't enough as the Golden Bears used a 6-0 run to spread its lead back out to a comfortable margin en route to winning the set.
In the final frame of action, both teams fought valiantly to either regain or seize control as 23 of the match's 31 ties and four of the match's five lead changes came in the fourth and final frame, with Shawnee State developing an 8-5 advantage on a pair of kills from Alexis Palazzo to go along with an attack each from Kefauver and Rhoads.
The lead, however, wouldn't last, and after fighting valiantly with West Virginia Tech following the Golden Bears' efforts to tie the score at nine all, SSU lost out as West Virginia Tech's game and match-ending 6-2 spurt put the contest to bed.
For the contest, Rhoads' 13 kills on a .281 attack percentage and 16 digs led the Bears, while Maria Kolinoff's 18 assists, eight digs, and six kills on a .333 attack percentage also proved to be numbers that were team-leading for SSU. Martin added 15 digs in the 3-1 loss for the Bears, who only hit .065 as a team during its match against the Golden Bears.
In the second contest, Shawnee State put together a much stronger fight against Point Park (Pa.), as evidenced early on when the Bears took an 8-2 advantage over the Pioneers behind three kills from Rhoads. A 12-5 push by Point Park, however, changed the complexion of the match, and despite getting two big kills from Kefauver late, the Bears couldn't overcome the mid-game push by the Pioneers in the 25-21 set defeat.
With Shawnee State up 5-2 early in the second frame, the Bears, despite seeing the Pioneers attack valiantly again, bowed up. Trailing by a 20-13 margin after a 18-8 run from Point Park, SSU rallied back as more individuals made their impacts.
In fact, five consecutive SSU kills were comprised from five different players, including Rhoads, Kolinoff, Kefauver, Isabella Gill and Nashail Shelby, as the Bears used a 7-1 to close within 21-20. Rhoads, who posted five kills in the set, then did the rest as the sophomore took over en route to posting three of those five spikes over the game's last nine tallies to lead the Bears from behind and take them to a thrilling comeback victory to tie the match at one apiece.
Fueled by her late-game performance in the second set, Rhoads kept the roll going. The sophomore, who posted a .333 attack percentage and added in 17 digs for another double-double, combined with Alexis Palazzo and Alissa Kefauver, who posted a kill apiece, to push Shawnee State's lead out to an 8-4 margin. Point Park cut the SSU gap down to a 13-10 margin in the third set, but two consecutive kills by Kolinoff and Palazzo, along with an attack error, allowed the Bears to kickstart a 9-3 run that also featured a kill each from Kefauver and Shelby. SSU, as a result, pushed its lead all the way out to a 25-16 victory in the third set -- giving them a 2-1 lead in the match.
However, in the fourth and fifth sets, Shawnee State struggled to find traction. After obtaining a .000 attack percentage in a 25-16 defeat in the fourth set, the contest went to a fifth and final set, where the Bears hit just .091 and never came any closer than two points to the lead after the 10th volley of action. In the final two frames combined, SSU hit .088 as a team as Point Park not only took the fourth set, but the fifth frame, 15-10, en route to the 3-2 victory.
Behind Rhoads and Kolinoff's outputs in the second match of the evening, Kefauver's 12 kills on a .250 attack percentage and Gill's seven kills on a .238 attack percentage led SSU offensively. Rhoads' 17 digs and Martin's 14 dives led SSU defensively.
Rhoads, who posted 34 kills and 33 digs on the day, respectively, and Kolinoff, who added in 73 assists, were again stout, as was Martin, who now holds 1,012 digs over her four seasons of collegiate competition. Martin has 878 digs to her credit at SSU alone.
For more information on SSU Bears Athletics, visit www.ssubears.com for more information. SSU Athletics is also participating in the ongoing Bear Club Challenge, which raises money for continued support for SSU student-athlete scholarships. To join the challenge and support SSU Athletics, visit www.ssubears.com/bearclubchallenge.
