MIDWAY, Ky. -- The volleyball program at Shawnee State faced no trouble in a straight-set victory over Midway (Ky.) Saturday afternoon, as the Bears completed a successful weekend road trip with a straight-set sweep of the Eagles, 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-16) in a River States Conference match that was held at Marshall Gymnasium in Midway, Ky.

Shawnee State, who held Midway (Ky.) to a .067 attack percentage at the net as a team by posting 11 blocks as a team, forced Midway into 18 attack errors, and nabbed a 44-31 advantage over the Eagles in digs, moved to 14-6 overall and 4-1 in the River States Conference with Saturday's win. The Bears won their eighth contest in the last 11 matches with the victory.

Along with the win, Shawnee State now sits eight games above .500 with its 14-6 overall record, and solidified its grasp on second place in the River States Conference East Division Standings as a result. The 14-6 mark is Shawnee State's best start through 20 matches since 2021, when the Bears also went 14-6 to start the first 20 matches of that campaign.
In the opening set, Shawnee State led by no more than three points in the opening frame, and were ahead by a slight 12-11 margin early in the first set -- but the Bears quickly took over the momentum in the set from there, sprinting out to a 13-4 run to end the set with a 10-point triumph. Katelynn Boerger posted three kills during the run while Bree Hicks and Camille McIntosh added in two spikes apiece as Shawnee State's balanced and deep front line quickly took charge to begin the match.

Even though Shawnee State dropped the opening five points to Midway in the second set and trailed by a 10-6 margin in the set at one point, the Bears due themselves out of the early deficit as back-to-back combined blocks by Natalie Reida and Reagan Lewis, back-to-back service aces by Cally Carpenter and two kills each from Reida and Whytney Faulkner kept the pressure on the Eagles -- with Shawnee State ultimately going on an 18-10 run to force set point before closing Midway out in the second set with a 25-21 triumph.

In the third and final frame, Shawnee State -- as with the first set -- never trailed. Midway tied Shawnee State initially at 2-2 and cut an early Shawnee State advantage down to an 8-6 margin, but got no closer than that as three consecutive service aces by Brooke Bossert and two kills from Natalie Reida led the Bears out on an 8-1 run that gave Shawnee State a 16-7 lead. From there, the Bears had no trouble closing out the match -- with Faulkner and McIntosh posting back-to-back-to-back kills to close out the third and final set in SSU's favor.