PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- The frontline for the Shawnee State volleyball program certainly has talent and depth -- and local standouts who have made their presence felt on the frontline at that.
That talent was evident and on display in a Friday evening River States Conference matchup between Shawnee State and the Oakland City Mighty Oaks' volleyball program -- as SSU junior setter Makaela Lovely nabbed a career-high for the second consecutive match with 49 assists to go along with 15 digs while Kylee Gifford, Haidyn Wamsley and Maelynn Howell all enjoyed big contests offensively in a 3-1 victory (25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 25-20) for the Bears in a home contest that was held at Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth.
Shawnee State, who improved to 12-9 overall and 5-4 in the RSC with Friday's triumph, battled through a scrappy effort by Oakland City (7-16, 2-8 River States Conference) by hitting .236 on the attack as a team and tallying 18 blocks -- including 14 of the solo variety -- in the four-set win.
Of those 18 blocks, Maelynn Howell and Kylee Gifford collected nine solo blocks on their own, with Haidyn Wamsley posting two additional solo stops in the match win. Gifford and Wamsley also nabbed an assisted block each, giving the trio 13 out of the 18 denials in all.
Finding Ways to Win
Trailing 5-3 in the opening set, Shawnee State turned the first set around in quick order as the Bears went on a 14-6 run to take a 15-11 advantage in the first frame of action behind a balanced effort that saw Howell, Wamsley, Camille McIntosh and Whytney Faulkner accumulate three kills apiece in giving SSU a four-point edge.
Oakland City trimmed the Shawnee State lead slightly to a 23-21 margin, but over the remainder of the opening set, the Bears held the Mighty Oaks at bay as Shawnee State got two kills each from Faulkner, Gifford and Wamsley during the last 20 volleys of the opening set to close the deal and take an early 1-0 lead in the match.
Oakland City, however, wasn't deterred. Three attack errors along with a kill by Whytney Faulkner allowed Shawnee State to take a 4-0 lead, but the Mighty Oaks rallied by going on a 12-6 advantage to get the lead back, claiming a 12-10 second set advantage.
Shawnee State responded by claiming each of the next four points on a kill by Gifford, a solo block from Howell, a combined block from Gifford and McIntosh and an ace by Whytney Faulkner to take a 14-12 lead, but despite keeping the second set tight throughout and even taking a 23-22 advantage on a kill by Faulkner, Oakland City rallied back to take the last three points and win the second set.
Despite facing their own set of adversity, Shawnee State rallied back -- as the Bears, even after trailing by 8-6 and 14-12 deficits in the third frame, rallied. In fact, Shawnee State went on a masterful 11-4 push after trailing by a 14-12 count in the latter contest, with Gifford, Howell, Lovely and Wamsley all getting in the act during what ended up proving to be a set-clinching run as SSU took a 25-21 third set victory and took a 2-1 lead in the match.
Carrying its momentum over from the third set into the fourth frame, Shawnee State blitzed Oakland City early on as the Bears went on a 7-2 run behind two kills from Kylee Gifford and a kill to go along with a block from Camille Hall. However, Oakland City didn't go away -- as the pesky Mighty Oaks rallied with a 13-6 spurt to take a 15-13 lead in the fourth frame.
However, Shawnee State -- once and for all -- put away Oakland City, as after battling the Mighty Oaks to a scant 18-17 deficit, the Bears ripped off a set and match ending 8-2 run that saw Wamsley post a pair of kills, Gifford add in a kill and a block and Faulkner and Howell post a kill each to set the final score.
Additional
Along with Lovely's fourth double-double of the year, Shawnee State got a splendid effort from Gifford, who posted 14 kills and just four attack errors on 33 attempts for a .303 attack percentage to go along with her four solo blocks and one assisted block. Wamsley, who added in 13 kills and just one attack error on 32 attempts, hit .375 offensively and posted two kills to go along with a solo block.
Howell, a promising talent, added in eight kills and five solo blocks -- as the West Sider collected a .333 attack percentage and only had three attack errors on 15 attempts.
Defensively, Megan Steele's 23 digs led SSU, while Brooke Bossert's 19 dives, Ava Jenkins' 11 digs and a 12-dig, 12-kill effort from Whytney Faulkner, which led to the latter's first career double-double, rounded out the main efforts from the Bears, while Camille McIntosh added in six kills and no attack errors on 17 attempts en route to hitting .353.
The Bears will turn its attention directly toward another River States Conference matchup Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. -- as Shawnee State plays host to RSC foe Brescia (Ky.) at that time. Shawnee State will be honoring both of its seniors -- Kylee Gifford and Haidyn Wamsley -- at that time.
