The Shawnee State volleyball program got strong attack contributions via 15 combined kills from sophomore talent Megan Steele and senior veteran Bethany Colling, but ultimately fell in a competitive three-set match to the Indiana University-East Red Wolves' volleyball program (20-25, 18-25, 23-25) Friday evening in Richmond, Ind in a River States Conference contest.
Despite the setback, SSU (15-11, 10-8 RSC) hit a respectable .200 as a unit and notched 54 digs as a defensive unit. However, IU-East had three players hit over .300 -- with Jessica Swimm's 18 spikes leading the charge -- while Lauren Uhte obtained a double-double with 44 assists and 13 digs.
Colling, Steele post efficient numbers
Playing a 25-win unit that received eight points in the latest NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches Poll, Shawnee State proved it had the muscle to compete with IU-East behind the play of Steele and Colling.
In fact, the pair helped Devan Spriggs' club establish an early lead in the opening set -- as a pair of kills by Colling allowed SSU to take a 3-1 advantage. When IU-East rallied back to take an 8-4 lead, Steele then answered with a pair of kills in a 6-1 Shawnee State spurt that had the Bears ahead by a 10-9 count before IU-East went on an 8-1 push to take control of the opening set.
After trailing wire-to-wire in the second set, the pair again responded with key attacks in the third set as Steele ripped off five kills to help turn an 11-5 deficit into leads of 21-20, 22-21, and 23-22 for SSU before IU-East scored the final trio of points to close out the match.
Steele ultimately finished with team-bests of 15 digs and eight kills on a .240 attack percentage, while Colling posted her seven rips on a .429 attack percentage to move to exactly 225 kills for the season.
Additional
Faith Kuhn added in a solid contribution with four kills on a .250 attack percentage while Haidyn Wamsley was active at the net, finishing with six kills, a solo block and two assisted blocks. Wamsley's teammate and fellow Northwest graduate, Reagan Lewis, also posted productive numbers with 14 assists, six digs, five kills and two assisted blocks while Marleigh Albert posted 13 assists to round out the main efforts for the Bears.
Shawnee State will close out the regular season Saturday when the Bears play host to Ohio Christian (12-18, 7-11 RSC) at 12 p.m. inside Waller Gymnasium.
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