The Shawnee State Bears Volleyball team had a weekend full of River States Conference action as they played Friday night and Saturday afternoon on the road. Friday evening, the Bears faced Oakland City University. Then as they were making the trek home they stopped off at Brescia University to play the Bearcats and the Eutectic of the University of Health Science and Pharmacy in St. Louis. 

SSU vs. Mighty Oaks 

The Bears jumped out to an early lead behind kills from Kylee Barney and Megan Steele, but the Mighty Oaks stormed back to tie up the set at seven points a piece. The two teams traded points after that until OCU found themselves up 15-13 and went on to score ten straight to claim the set. The second set started with a battle for the first true run of the set and both teams trading blows neither one giving in. Bethany Colling, Barney, and Steele, stacked three kills on top of each other showing that Shawnee still had life towards the end of set two but it was not enough as the Mighty Oakes claimed set two, taking the 2-0 advantage. SSU and OCU started their third set just like the second set and found themselves tied at ten points. Kills by Steele and Barney, and some errors on the Mighty Oaks gave the Bears a 17-10 lead, but the Oaks were not held quietly as they rallied off seven straight points to tie the game. The two teams went back to trading blow for blow. Oakland City topped Shawnee on three straight points to end the set and the match. 

SSU vs. Bearcats

Shawnee had to have a short memory as they woke up the Saturday morning and played the Brescia Bearcats. They did just that as they dominated the bearcats from the first serve. SSU took the match after three straight sets: 25-14, 25-19, 25-17. Megan Steele, Bethay Colling, and Haidyn Wamsley all were near or had double-digit kills, while Ava Jenkins continues to have a solid season as the Bears libero, as she collected 29 digs. 

SSU vs. UHSP

After the first match was over the Bears had a short 30-minute intermission, then suited up against the Eutectic of UHSP of St. Louis. The match played out very well for the Bears as they claimed set one 25-10, set two 25-16, and set three 25-13. Seven of the ten Bears that participated in the match had at least one kill, with Wasmley and Kylee Barney leading the way each having at least ten kills. The Bears also had six service aces and each person nabbed a dig during the three-set match. 

Shawnee State will be back in action tomorrow, Tuesday, October 17, as they take the short trip north to take on the Trailblazers of Ohio Christian University. The match will start at 7 PM. 

Also, this Saturday's Volleyball match, at home, against the Eagles of Midway University will be a Pink-Out game. Wear your Pink and come support the Shawnee State Bears. There will be promotions throughout the game with all of the proceeds going to the Southern Ohio Medical Cancer Center.