Game 1 -- Shawnee State 3, Union Commonwealth (Ky.) 0 -- 25-14, 25-20, 25-23
 

Shawnee State's well-balanced hitting attack continued to deliver the goods through its triumph in the opener, as the Bears swept Union Commonwealth (Ky.) in straight sets in its first contest at 2:30 p.m.

The Bears began the opening set with a flurry -- scoring eight of the first nine points to begin the match off of a pair of service aces from senior setter Makaela Lovely, a kill from senior Reagan Lewis and a block that Lewis and freshman middle Natalie Reida combined on to get the Bears out to an 8-1 lead.

Union cut the gap slightly to a 15-10 mark, but Shawnee State's frontline continued to produce, holding the Bulldogs at bay as a result as sophomore Whytney Faulkner and talented freshmen Bree Hicks and Katelynn Boerger each posted two kills to clinch the opening set in favor of Shawnee State.

Trailing by a 4-1 margin to begin the second frame, Shawnee State rallied by successfully winning 13 of the next 20 volleys, taking a 14-11 advantage as Reida and Camille Hall led the charge offensively with two kills apiece.

The Bears, who eventually stretch that advantage to a 20-15 mark in the second set, had that lead erased by Union, who went on a 5-0 spurt to tie the second set score at 20 aside.

However, Shawnee State responded by countering with five straight volleys on its own accord as the Bears defense forced Union into four attack errors -- with Reida posting a solo block and combining with Lewis for another stop -- to seal the second set in Shawnee State's favor.

Devan Spriggs' group continued rolling in the third set, as Shawnee State, after giving up the opening volley to Union, countered with five straight volleys with Hicks notching a kill and a service ace and Reida posting a spike of her own while combining with Lewis for yet another block, giving the Bears a 5-1 advantage.

For much of the third set, Shawnee State held between a three to five-volley advantage before Union, behind by a 20-16 margin, countered with a 7-2 run to take a 23-22 lead. Undeterred, Shawnee State showed poise and grit in responding with three consecutive volleys to seal the set and the match -- with Reida and Lewis finalizing the result with a kill each to close out the win.

Reida, who finished with eight kills, six total blocks and three digs, also hit .316 for the match to lead the Bears, while Hall and Faulkner each added seven kills for Shawnee State with the former hitting .400 in another efficient performance on the attack.

Lewis posted nine digs, seven assists, four kills and three total blocks while Boerger (five kills, three digs) and Hicks (six digs, five assists, four kills) all contributed in a strong manner on the frontline for Shawnee State.

Makaela Lovely's 11 assists and six digs, along with a team-high 15 digs from Megan Steele, rounded out the main contributors on the Shawnee State side of the coin.

Game 2 -- Shawnee State 3, Faulkner (Ala.) 2 (25-14, 23-25, 25-17, 16-25, 15-11)

Against Faulkner, Shawnee State dominated the early proceedings in much the same way that it did against Union, jumping out to a 17-8 advantage off of two kills apiece from Hall, Lewis and Reida and never looking back en route to a 25-14 first set win, with Hall tallying three additional kills over the first set's final seven volleys to finish off the opening frame.

The Eagles, however, proved to put up a tough fight throughout the match. In the second set, Shawnee State trailed Faulkner by a 12-8 margin, and after rallying to tie the second set at 12 apiece, fell back again as the Eagles took five of the next seven volleys to take a 17-14 advantage.

Down by a 21-18 margin late in the second set, Shawnee State rallied to take a 23-22 lead as kills by Hicks and Boerger and a service ace by Steele put Shawnee State just two points away from a 2-0 match advantage. However, after a timeout, Faulkner regrouped and took each of the last three set points to even the match at one aside.

Bouncing back quickly in the third set, Shawnee State proceeded to dominate in much the same manner as it did in the opening set, never trailing and taking as large as a 20-10 advantage as five different players posted kills in the set. Reida nabbed four spikes in the frame, Hicks and Lewis each followed up with three apiece, and Boerger, along with Camille McIntosh, collected two kills each.

While Shawnee State struggled to find its footing in a 25-16 fourth set defeat, the Bears bounced back when it mattered most -- notching the first six points of the fifth set and jumping out to a lead as large as 13-2 in the fifth and deciding stanza before hanging on for a 15-11 fifth set win that sealed the sweep of Friday's affairs. Hall nabbed four kills in the deciding frame while Lewis posted three spikes and McIntosh two as the balance of the frontline again stood out as the match concluded.

For the match, Reida and Hall posted dominating efforts by combining for 26 kills -- with Reida posting 15 spikes, three total blocks and two service aces while hitting .433 on the attack and Hall adding in 11 kills on a .214 attack percentage. Lewis (21 assists, 10 kills, four digs, two total blocks) performed well on all fronts while posting a double-double for the match, while Makaela Lovely also added in 21 assists, helping Shawnee State maintain an evenly-distributed frontline attack.

Steele (26 digs) and Ava Jenkins (14 digs) led the back row with their defensive play.
 

Additional
 

Shawnee State (4-1) takes on host Milligan (Tenn.) and Blue Mountain Christian (Miss.) Saturday morning at 10 a.m. and Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m., respectively.