RIO GRANDE, Ohio -- Defeating your conference rival to remain alive in the quest to claim either a share of or the outright rights to a division crown -- and collecting 20 wins in the regular season for the first time in 13 years.
That's quite a day.
In a matter of three-and-a-half hours, that's exactly what the Shawnee State volleyball program did in a pair of matches against Rio Grande and Cincinnati-Clermont Saturday afternoon at Newt Oliver Arena in Rio Grande.
Playing the RedStorm first in a critical River States Conference match, the Bears kept their hopes of claiming a conference division crown alive in what will be its final season competing in the River States, as Shawnee State blew away Rio Grande in the opening set by a 25-13 margin, then outlasted the RedStorm in three consecutive well-contested sets, with the Bears claiming the second set by a 25-22 margin and recovering from a 22-25 setback in the third frame to win 25-23 in the fourth stanza.
SSU then dispatched Cincinnati-Clermont quickly in the second of the three matches that made up the tri-match, completing an undefeated 3-0 week and officially reaching the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2012 in a dominant 25-15, 25-8, 25-12 showing over the Cougars.
SIGNIFICANCEÂ OF WINS
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With the sweep of Saturday's affairs, Shawnee State improved to 20-10 overall, officially claiming its first 20-win season since 2012 -- when current head coach
Devan Spriggs was a sophomore on that Shawnee State unit, which ultimately went 22-13 overall.
The Bears' win in its first match against Rio Grande also helped the Bears improve to 9-5 overall in River States Conference competition, which presently puts Shawnee State ahead of Indiana-East as the Bears own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Red Wolves behind its 3-2 victory over Indiana-East in a road match that was held on Sept. 26 in Richmond, Ind.
Both Shawnee State and Indiana-East are only a half-game back of Rio Grande for the River States Conference East Division lead with one match left for the RedStorm and two matches left each for the Bears and Red Wolves. If Shawnee State defeats Indiana-East Friday, Nov. 7 and Midway the following afternoon on Saturday, Nov. 8, and Rio Grande drops its last match of the season to West Virginia Tech, Shawnee State would win the RSC East Division outright. If the Bears simply defeat Indiana-East and Midway, SSU will be no worse than second regardless of Rio Grande's result -- and would host a home match in the River States Conference Quarterfinals at Waller Gymnasium regardless.
Match 1 -- Shawnee State 3, Rio Grande 1 (25-13, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23)
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Shawnee State immediately started off Saturday's opener against Rio Grande with a bang as the Bears scored each of the first eight points with
Katelynn Boerger posting two kills andÂ
Cally Carpenter adding in a pair of service aces.
Bree Hicks also added in a kill while Hicks and
Camille McIntosh combined for a block as Shawnee State's sharp execution seemed to take the Rio side by surprise, forcing the RedStorm to take an early timeout.
From there, Rio Grande was only able to cut the deficit slightly -- as Shawnee State blitzed Rio on the service line in what proved to be a theme throughout much of the match. The Bears' lead was cut to an 11-6 margin, but three consecutive service aces by
Makaela Lovely proved to be massive in another 8-0 SSU spurt that ultimately closed the deal in the 25-13 opening set victory.
Shawnee State, who scored the opening three points in the second set of competition, faced a tougher contest from Rio Grande in the second set as both teams battled one another to eight ties and three lead changes over the first 24 volleys of the set. The Bears -- trailing by a 10-8 margin in the second set -- were the ones to take control, however, as Shawnee State went on a crucial 7-2 run with
Natalie Reida dialing up a pair of kills and Boerger, Hicks and
Whytney Faulkner each adding one in a critical swing that gave SSU a 15-12 advantage.
Rio Grande rallied back to tie the second set at 18 apiece and close to within 22-21 again late in the set, but on each occasion, Shawnee State had the answer, with the Bears scoring three of the final four set points to claim the second set victory as McIntosh, Boerger and Reida each dropped in kills that gave SSU a 25-22 second set triumph.
After fighting back from an 8-5 deficit in the third set to take leads of 14-13 and 15-14 but seeing those leads slip away in a third set defeat to the RedStorm, both teams proceeded to duke it out in a classic fourth set that was akin to a heavyweight fight.
Tied at nine all in the fourth set, Rio Grande ripped off three straight points to take a 12-9 advantage, but Shawnee State answered right back with a critical 6-1 run as McIntosh and Boerger proceeded to control the net during this stretch with the duo posting two kills and combining with one another for two blocks in a huge swing that gave the Bears a 15-13 lead.
Strengthening its own resolve in an attempt to send the contest to five sets, the RedStorm rallied with a 9-4 run to put the Bears on the brink by taking a 22-19 advantage.
With its back against the wall in the fourth frame, however, Shawnee State responded in the best manner that it possibly could've.
The Bears not only rallied back from the 22-19 deficit, but finished the RedStorm off in one fell swoop, utilizing a 6-1 set and match-ending run with a service ace by Carpenter and a kill by Hicks setting the tone for the winning spurt that gave Shawnee State the crucial four-set victory to stay alive in the River States Conference East Division race.
For the match, true freshmen
Bree Hicks,
Katelynn Boerger and
Natalie Reida proved to be a thorn in Rio Grande's side all match, as Hicks posted 12 kills on a .280 attack percentage while Boerger added in 11 kills and six assisted blocks -- hitting .304 for the day -- and Reida adding in nine kills to go along with five total blocks while nabbing a .389 attack percentage to boot.
Camille McIntosh added in six kills and five total blocks herself, completing another well-rounded performance by the SSU frontline.
On the back row,
Megan Steele led Shawnee State with 20 digs from her libero position, while Shawnee State setter
Cally Carpenter claimed her second consecutive double-double with a 19-assist, 12-dig performance.
Match 2 -- Shawnee State 3, Cincinnati-Clermont 0 (25-15, 25-8, 25-12)
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Shawnee State came out in its second set against Cincinnati-Clermont and proceeded to dominate from start to finish in its straight set triumph. The Bears trailed by no more than 2-0 in the first set and 4-1 in the second set, and never trailed in the third and final frame en route to hitting .424 as a team in the win.
Boerger (nine kills, .615 attack percentage, four blocks) again led Shawnee State while Hicks (eight kills, .467 attack percentage) and Reida (seven kills, .545 attack percentage) again tore up the proceedings with their play while Carpenter (22) and
Makaela Lovely (13) combined for 35 assists across the three-set match. Steele again led the back line with 16 digs while
Whytney Faulkner, who posted 10 digs and added in eight kills while hitting .333 for the match. McIntosh collected six kills, four total blocks and a .308 attack percentage while
Reagan Lewis posted four kills and a .400 attack percentage to round out the attack.
ADDITIONAL
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