Friday, Oct. 10, Shawnee State volleyball (16-6, 6-1 River States Conference) vs. No. 20 Indiana-Kokomo (17-5, 7-0 River States Conference), 7 p.m., Waller Gymnasium, and Saturday, Oct. 11, Shawnee State volleyball vs. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (21-2, 5-1 River States Conference), 12 p.m., Waller Gymnasium
 

Fresh off its best start in 13 years, the Shawnee State volleyball program has the opportunity to turn the entire River States Conference race on its head Friday evening and Saturday afternoon as the Bears take on No. 20 Indiana-Kokomo -- the lone remaining undefeated team in terms of conference play -- and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, who, at 21-2, holds the most victories of any RSC team. The latter contest against SMWC has been billed as the River States Conference Match of the Week.

In one of the most balanced offensive attacks that Shawnee State has sported in a long time, the Bears have seven players with at least 97 or more kills, including Katelynn Boerger (154), Whytney Faulkner (151), Bree Hicks (145), Camille McIntosh (112), Reagan Lewis (104), Natalie Reida (103) and Camille Hall (97), as well as three players posting at least 130 or more assists in Lewis (334), Makaela Lovely (321) and Cally Carpenter (138).

Defensively, Boerger (43), Reida (39), McIntosh (36), Hall (28) and Lewis (26) all have over 25 total blocks while reigning River States Conference Defensive Player of the Week Megan Steele has 499 digs and a .950 service reception percentage with Ava Jenkins (235 digs, .965 service reception percentage) and Brooke Bossert (186 digs, .949 service reception percentage) also adding in big numbers to boot.

Shawnee State will be taking on an Indiana-Kokomo program that has made the NAIA National Tournament in each of the last 10 seasons and has gone 358-96 overall since current head coach Heather Hayes took over in 2013 with a 166-16 overall record in River States Conference action. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods is no slouch either, as the Pomeroys have gone 105-22 in Ashley Harris' four seasons as head coach with a 41-18 overall record in River States Conference play. 

Saturday, Oct. 11, Shawnee State men's and women's tennis vs. Hanover (Ind.), 2 p.m.
 

Participating in its last matches of the fall season, the men's and women's tennis programs at Shawnee State will be in action against NCAA Division III Hanover (Ind.) Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in a pair of contests that will be held at Daehler Tennis Courts in Portsmouth.

Over the fall season, Landon Smith claimed the first match victory of his career over Mount Vernon Nazarene, while Daniel Cristobal has been a key piece to Shawnee State's men's tennis squad as SSU's top singles player and a member of the Bears' No. 1 doubles unit.

The women's side, who will be competing in its lone match of the fall against outside competition from a team standpoint, presently has five players, including Maggie-Mae Clark, Gracie Doll, Miranda Johnson, Marissa Justice and Kat Nelson, on its squad.

Saturday, Oct. 11, Shawnee State men's (6-2-2, 2-1 River States Conference) and women's (2-8-1, 1-2 River States Conference) soccer vs. Kentucky Christian, 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
 

With the men presently sitting fourth in the River States Conference standings and the women sitting just a half-game back from the final spot needed to qualify for the River States Conference Tournament with a month still left in the regular season, the Shawnee State men's and women's soccer programs have an opportunity to score key victories Saturday evening as SSU plays host to a RSC foe that resides just 50 minutes to its south in Kentucky Christian.

MEN

Down two starters, the men's program at Shawnee State rallied for a 2-1 victory over Indiana-East as Marco Riva scored his 11th career goal at Shawnee State and his 28th career point to supply the game winner in the 52nd frame off of a Sekou Mara pass. Belo Bitencourt added in the fifth goal of his SSU career 35 minutes earlier in the 17th minute off of a Sei Aitoku corner kick.

For the 2025 season, the Shawnee State men's soccer program has had 11 different players score a goal while nine additional players have contributed assists on the roster. Defensively, Toby Forsythe holds a goals-against-average mark of 1.06.

WOMEN
 

On the women's side, Shawnee State sophomore goalkeeper Harlee Brand continues to improve on a weekly basis -- as Brand has made 73 stops in 11 matches.

Six different players have scored goals for the Bears this season, and Shawnee State, despite its 2-8-1 overall record, could easily be 7-3-1 as the Bears have lost five games by one goal in 2025.

Saturday, Oct. 11 and Sunday, Oct. 12, Shawnee State men's and women's golf at Crimson Classic, Wildcat Creek Golf Course, Kokomo, Ind.
 

Following women's golf's second round of action on Tuesday, the Shawnee State men's and women's golf programs will be back in action for what will be the final tournament of the fall for both units, as the Bears compete in the Crimson Classic at Wildcat Creek Golf Course in Kokomo, Ind.

Shawnee State's men's golf program has been led by the efforts of returning letterwinners Trey Cracraft, Ross Ferrell, Logan Hughes, Max Kearns and Tanner Stevenson -- while Hunter Freeman has been consistent as a true freshman as well. All six players will be in the lineup this weekend.

As for the women, Shawnee State has been led by Aly Wellman in most tournaments -- with Wellman firing an 86 followed by an 81 at the UPike Fall Invitational to place fifth overall in the tournament field. Senior Cali Baird, sophomore Brynna Spencer and true freshmen Saylor Crace and Olivia Lewis have competed in each of the Shawnee State women's golf program's first three tournaments during the fall portion of the 2025-26 season.

Additional
 

The volleyball and men's and women's soccer contests can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/@ssubearsathletics.