OWENSBORO, Ky. -- Freshman standout
Bree Hicks enjoyed one of the best performances of her young collegiate career with 14 kills, fellow frontline players
Camille Hall,
Natalie Reida and
Katelynn Boerger combined for an astounding 24 kills and 16 total blocks, and for the first time in 13 years, the Shawnee State volleyball program sits at least 10 games above .500 in a season as the Bears overcame a 25-17 opening set defeat to the Brescia (Ky.) Bearcats' volleyball program by sweeping the next three sets (26-24, 25-15, 25-14) and taking home a 3-1 win over Brescia in a River States Conference match that was held at The Moore Center in Owensboro, Ky. Saturday afternoon.
SIGNIFICANCE OF WIN
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With Saturday's four-set triumph over Brescia, Shawnee State holds the status of 10 games above .500 (16-6) for the first time since October 2012, when the Bears were 17-5 through its first 22 matches of the season through Oct. 6 of that year. Shawnee State's 16-6 overall record in 2025 is also its best record through 22 matches since the 2012 season as well -- which ultimately was the last time that the Shawnee State volleyball program won 20 matches in a season. The 2012 team went 22-13.
Devan Spriggs -- Shawnee State's current head coach who has been involved with the program for 15 consecutive seasons -- was a sophomore on that 2012 squad. None of Shawnee State's current volleyball players associated with the program were older than nine years of age the last time SSU put together a start of this caliber -- while the current freshmen on Shawnee State's volleyball roster were five years old the last time Shawnee State enjoyed its current start to the year.
In Saturday's victory, Shawnee State flipped the script -- as the Bears recovered from hitting .000 in the opening set and allowing Brescia to hit .222 in its opening set loss to the Bearcats to hitting .221 as a team over its final three sets en route to taking the second, third, and fourth frames while holding Brescia to a .000 attack percentage over the second, third and fourth sets of play. In the third and fourth sets, SSU hit .297 and .290 as a unit.
Defensively, Shawnee State dominated the stat sheet -- posting 93 digs to Brescia's 77 and 24 total blocks to the Bearcats' 10 in the match. The Bears also nabbed 52 assists offensively compared to the Bearcats' 30 as well.
MATCH SUMMARY
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Following its 25-17 defeat in the opening set of competition, Shawnee State rallied as the Bears' net activity grew exponentially throughout the match.
Natalie Reida and
Camille Hall each posted six assisted blocks each while
Katelynn Boerger added in four assisted blocks herself.
The effective blocking by the trio caused difficulties for Brescia, from a hitting standpoint, throughout much of the match following the opening set. Of the eight individuals to post at least five or more attack attempts for Brescia, only Jennifer Lee, who finished with six kills on a .273 attack percentage, finished with a attack mark above .154. Lee was also the only player for Brescia to finish with more than two blocks in the match as well. No Brescia player finished with more than eight kills in the four-set match.
On Shawnee State's end,
Bree Hicks' game-high 14 kills came on a .294 attack percentage -- personal numbers that were only exceeded when Hicks nabbed 15 spikes and a .324 attack percentage against Kentucky Christian back on Sept. 13 -- while Boerger added in nine kills on a .240 attack percentage to boot. Hall posted eight kills as well and hit .200 up front for Shawnee State in the match.
Passing-wise, Shawnee State's two-setter system continued to work effectively as
Cally Carpenter posted 23 assists and six digs while
Makaela Lovely added in 18 assists and nine digs to boot in the match. The backline was led by the consistent play of
Megan Steele,
Ava Jenkins and
Brooke Bossert -- who tallied 23, 18 and 16 digs, respectively to round out Shawnee State's efforts.
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ADDITIONAL
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