SAINT MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. -- The volleyball program at Shawnee State got a career-best 16 kills from
Whytney Faulkner and gave No. 2-seeded Saint Mary-of-the-Woods all it could handle in the second and third sets of a River States Conference Quarterfinal matchup, but the Bears dropped a four-set decision to the Pomeroys (11-25, 25-19, 26-28, 17-25) in a road contest that was held in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind. Saturday evening at the
Jeanne Knoerle Sports and Recreation Center in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind.
Despite the loss, the Shawnee State volleyball program (21-12) finished the year -- and its final season in NAIA competition -- with its first 20-win season since 2012 and its most wins in 13 years as a result. The senior class -- which consists of the quartet of
Makaela Lovely,
Megan Steele,
Reagan Lewis and
Ava Jenkins -- each accomplished a four-digit milestone.
Lovely finished with 1,413 assists for her career while Lewis, a setter during the early part of her career, collected 1,675 dimes in that category.
Steele and Jenkins, meanwhile, finished with 1,489 and 1,342 digs, respectively -- and Jenkins and Steele officially sit first and second in program history in service reception percentage at .962 and .957, respectively.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
After dropping the opening set, Shawnee State responded with resiliency in the second set, as the Bears, with the second set score tied at four points apiece, went on a 6-1 run to give Shawnee State a 10-5 advantage with Faulkner posting a pair of service aces and
Bree Hicks a pair of kills to help SSU lay claim to a 10-5 advantage.
The Bears then got kills from six different players at one point during the middle of the second set, ultimately holding an 18-14 advantage before Saint Mary-of-the-Woods cut the Shawnee State lead to an 18-17 margin. However, a solo block by
Camille McIntosh to go along with a kill from the sophomore, and two kills from her Graham High School-turned-SSU teammate in Faulkner helped the Bears go on a match-ending 7-2 run, giving the Bears a 25-19 second set triumph.
In the third frame of action, Shawnee State trailed by a 21-12 margin -- but after a timeout that was called by
Devan Spriggs, came out of the short break like a seemingly reinvigorated unit.
Riding the play of McIntosh and Faulkner on the frontline -- who combined for three kills -- as well as a service ace from
Ava Jenkins, the Bears responded with a massive 11-2 run that turned what looked to be a runaway set win for the Pomeroys into an entirely new look.
With the score tied at 23 aside, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods responded by putting Shawnee State on set point three straight times -- but the Bears fought off SMWC as SSU got kills from McIntosh and
Natalie Reida and a service error from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, keeping the score tied at 26 through extra volleys. However, a kill by Saint Mary-of-the-Woods' Lisanel Rodriguez and a block that Karla Melendez and Sofia Soto combined on gave the Pomeroys a 28-26 victory in the third frame of action.
Trailing 7-1 in the fourth frame, Shawnee State battled back to close the score within 18-14 as Reida ripped off two kills and two solo blocks, Faulkner added in two kills, McIntosh collected a solo block, and
Hallie Oyer and Lewis added in a kill each while
Joey Neal notched a service ace, helping the Bears push the Pomeroys. However, SMWC answered with a 7-3 run to conclude the set and the match.
ADDITIONAL
For the contest, Shawnee State was led by Faulkner's 16 kills and six digs -- with the sophomore hitting .368 -- while Reida posted seven kills, five digs and two solo blocks and hit .267 for the Bears in her first conference tournament match. Lovely and
Cally Carpenter combined for 32 assists from a passing standpoint while Steele led the SSU defense with 19 digs and Lovely tallied 10 as the latter nabbed a double-double in her final collegiate match.
