The volleyball program at Shawnee State continued its impressive play into Saturday, as the Bears, down by a 2-0 margin to Campbellsville, rallied again for another thrilling five-set comeback to win 3-2 over the Tigers (20-25, 18-25, 26-24, 25-19, 15-7) before seeing its winning streak end, albeit in a competitive three-setter, to Lindsey Wilson (15-25, 20-25, 21-25) in a match that was held in Columbia, Ky. later in the day Saturday evening in the Bears' road trip to South Central Kentucky.
Shawnee State, who now sits with a 7-8 overall record and a 5-5 mark in Mid-South Conference play, was outstanding again defensively in the Campbellsville matchup as the Bears notched 96 digs and 14 total blocks as a team to get fantastic play from its group at all ends. The Bears also posted six blocks to Lindsey Wilson's eight and 38 digs to the Blue Raiders' 44 in a respectable showing against the top team in the conference.
Rhoads stars again throughout day
In two fantastic performances, Macie Rhoads blazed an excellent trail for Shawnee State's offensive performance throughout by combining for 32 kills between the two matches against Campbellsville and Lindsey Wilson.
Against Campbellsville, Rhoads helped Shawnee State rally from a 2-0 deficit by notching 20 kills and 24 digs to grab her 35th career double-double while hitting .237 on a game-high 59 attack attempts to boot. The junior from Circleville also notched a game-high 24 digs in the process.
Rhoads then continued on a strong attack streak against Lindsey Wilson, notching an outstanding 12-kill total for a match high while also posting that number on incredible efficiency as evidenced by her .367 attack percentage.
With her performances Saturday afternoon, Rhoads now has 997 kills and 904 digs for her career at Shawnee State, and sits sixth and 12th overall in both categories. The outside hitter can reach the 1,000 mark in both categories with just three more kills and 96 more digs -- all in less than three full seasons of play.
Colling posts career day against Campbellsville
Continuing the theme of balanced attack hitting, Shawnee State received a massive effort from Bethany Colling in Saturday's five-set win against Campbellsville.
Colling, who posted a career-high 14 kills against the Tigers, did so on outstanding efficiency, notching a .333 attack percentage while only committing four attack errors in 30 attempts as the freshman from Duncan Falls, Ohio continues to, along with the rest of the freshman group, improve on a game-by-game basis.
Blocking on point
Throughout Saturday's contests, Shawnee State's blocking proved to be a strong asset to the Bears' ability to rally.
That was especially the case in Saturday's win over Campbellsville, as Nash Shelby and Bella Gill notched 4.5 total blocks each while Alexis Palazzo added in 3.5 herself in the victory. Palazzo, who has continued to add energy as a rotational frontline piece, also added in nine kills on a .304 attack percentage in the win.
Kolinoff posts excellent performance
Against Campbellsville, Maria Kolinoff added to the performances that her teammates brought to the table with an excellent showing against the Tigers.
Posting a season-best 31 assists to go along with 19 digs to boot, Kolinoff's passing proved to be critical in the Bears establishing a balanced attack in the come-from-behind win. Kolinoff also added in 16 assists in just three sets against Lindsey Wilson in a competitive showing against the top team in the Mid-South Conference.
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Emilee Cochran's and Darian Fiesler's 29 combined digs against Campbellsville, along with Maddie Payne's 13 assists against the Tigers, also led the SSU volleyball program, whose five-game winning streak proved to be the longest since the 2013-14 group won six games in a row.
Shawnee State gets right back to work Sunday afternoon when the Bears play host to Cumberland (Tenn.). Game time begins at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
For more information on SSU Bears Athletics, visit www.ssubears.com or visit the Twitter and Facebook pages at https://twitter.com/SSUBears and https://www.facebook.com/SSUBears. For more information on how to join the SSU Bear Club or for sponsorship of specific SSU players or events, visit https://givetossu.com/bear-club and https://givetossu.com/sponsorthebears.
