PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- Friday evening's match between the Shawnee State volleyball program and the Indiana-East volleyball program was suspended Friday as remnants of Hurricane Helene blasted through the Tri-State Area Friday, ultimately causing a power outage that halted the River States Conference contest with Shawnee State trailing by a 2-0 margin in the match itself (22-25, 19-25).
In the match, both teams battled to a competitive first set, which saw 13 ties and 14 different lead changes in a competitive 47-volley set where SSU hit .222 as a team.
Haidyn Wamsley, who tied a match-high with seven kills and a .333 attack percentage while also collecting a match-high three solo blocks, posted five of her seven spikes in the opening set alone -- while Megan Steele continued her effective play between the front and back lines, nabbing 10 digs which was the second-most in the match as well as four kills on a .200 attack percentage.
Together, the pair came through for Shawnee State at crucial points through the first set -- with Wamsley's match-opening kill helping the Bears take a 2-0 first set lead.
When Indiana-East rallied to take a 4-2 advantage, Wamsley and Steele answered with one kill each during a 5-2 run for Shawnee State that helped SSU claim a 7-6 advantage -- with both players' kills giving Shawnee State two separate one-point leads (6-5 and 7-6). Wamsley then later tied the score at 10 all and helped give Shawnee State a 12-11 lead before Steele nabbed her second kill of the set to take a 14-13 advantage.
With a 20-18 advantage in favor of SSU late in the opening set, Wamsley nabbed a kill and a block to help keep the match tight -- as the Bears ultimately battled to a 21-all tie late in the first set. However, Indiana-East took four of the set's final five points to take the opening set, then built a 12-7 lead in the second set and never had a lead of less than three volleys at any point in time en route to taking a 2-0 match lead.
When the match is made up, Shawnee State will look to overcome that deficit. The resumption date and time will be announced when it is finalized.
Shawnee State (6-6, 0-1 River States Conference) will play Rio Grande (14-4, 3-0 River States Conference) Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. in Waller Gymnasium.
