PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- Devan Spriggs and Sydney Seth have certainly landed and coached up an impressive collection of talent.
That's evident in the start to the year that the Shawnee State volleyball program has had during the 2024 season.
Despite falling behind with a first-set loss to the Georgetown Tigers' volleyball program, Shawnee State rallied back with a dominant second set victory over Georgetown, then staved off late rallies in the third and fourth sets against the Tigers to obtain a four-set win (23-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-22) en route to its fourth match victory in a row Thursday evening in the volleyball program's home opener at Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth.
With its fourth consecutive match victory, Shawnee State improved to 6-3 through its first nine matches of the 2024 season -- which marks the best start for the Bears since SSU started the 2021 season 8-1 overall. Shawnee State's only losses so far have been two five-set defeats to two of the top three Mid-South Conference units from 2023 -- 2023 Mid-South Conference Champion and (RV) Cumberlands (Ky.) along with Cumberland (Tenn.) -- and Union Commonwealth (Ky.).
Shawnee State hit .119 on the attack in the match, but used its size advantage and gritty play to hold Georgetown to a .047 attack percentage. The Tigers hit .269 in the opening set, rallying from a 22-20 deficit to win the first salvo by two volleys, but the Bears countered by holding Georgetown to marks of -.056, .000 and .041 respectively.
Second set dominance
Down 3-2 early in the second set of competition, Megan Steele's serving proved to be effective again as Shawnee State's Swiss Army Knife served out six consecutive Shawnee State points, leading to a 8-3 Bears cushion.
Georgetown rallied to come within a 10-9 margin in the second frame, but Steele nabbed a pair of kills while Reagan Lewis dropped a kill in between the defense and assisted on a spike -- and those plays, along with two bad Georgetown sets and two attack errors, led to a 9-2 Shawnee State run that opened up the match.
Steele again enjoyed a solid performance, ultimately contributing more on the defensive side of the floor in Thursday's victory by leading Shawnee State with 20 digs while adding three kills and a solo block to boot.
Frontline plays factor in third, fourth set victories
As the match went on, Shawnee State's frontline made its presence felt, especially from a defensive standpoint.
Establishing control early in the third set, Haidyn Wamsley, Kylee Gifford and Whytney Faulkner each combined for a block to put Shawnee State up by a 7-4 tally in the third set.
When Georgetown closed the gap to a 14-13 margin, Wamsley and Gifford turned up the dial offensively -- as the duo combined for four kills, three coming off of Makaela Lovely passes, to push Shawnee State out on a 22-15 advantage -- giving the Bears enough of a cushion to hang on for a 25-21 triumph in the third frame, while grabbing a 2-1 match advantage.
In the fourth set of action, Wamsley roared out of the gate -- as the 5-10 leaper from Otway nabbed two thunderous kills over the first seven volleys of the fourth set to help Shawnee State take a 9-3 fourth set lead.
Georgetown would ultimately close -- and even take a 14-13 fourth-set lead of its own. However, Wamsley proved to be too much.
Nabbing a match-high 13 kills while hitting a strong .314 for the match, Wamsley posted three kills and a block over the final 20 volleys of the match -- while Faulkner, who posted six kills, launched a sidewinding spike to help Shawnee State complete the final lead change of the match as the Bears grabbed the lead for good at the match's 37th volley, taking a 19-18 fourth set lead. Gifford, who posted 10 spikes on a .643 attack percentage, then added a kill and a block over the final 10 volleys herself -- completing a 25-22 fourth-set win for the Bears that sealed the match for good.
Additional
In addition to Wamsley's 13 kills and .314 attack percentage and Gifford's 10 kills and .643 attack percentage, the standout duo combined for seven solo blocks in Thursday's win, while Faulkner added two of her own solo denials in the four set triumph.
Steele's aforementioned 20 digs and Brooke Bossert's 15 led Shawnee State on the backline, while Makaela Lovely's 21 assists and seven digs and Reagan Lewis' 12 assists and seven digs proved to be big outputs for the Bears in both the passing and defensive departments, respectively.
Shawnee State (6-3) has two big matches ahead of it with Saturday afternoon contests against Lindsey Wilson (12:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. CT) and Campbellsville (4:30 p.m. ET). Read more about those matchups at https://www.ssubears.com/sports/wvball/2024-25/releases/20240904qprrzg.
