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SSU VB to play in Emileigh Jo Cooper Memorial Classic
Posted: Aug 29, 2024

SSU VB to play in Emileigh Jo Cooper Memorial Classic

After going 2-2 to open the year in its first four-game set at the Milligan Mountain Madness, the volleyball program at Shawnee State (2-2) will participate in another four-match classic this coming weekend as the Bears will play in the Emileigh Jo Cooper Memorial Classic Friday and Saturday in Rio Grande, Ohio. Shawnee State will face Cumberland (Tenn.) at 5 p.m. and Ohio Christian at 7:30 p.m. Friday evening, followed by matches against Defiance and Lindsey Wilson at 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Notes on the opposition -- Cumberland (Tenn.), Ohio Christian, Defiance, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)

  • Cumberland (Tenn.) went 19-18 in 2023 and is 71-37 over the last three seasons. The Phoenix are 5-5 overall to start the 2024 campaign.
  • Ohio Christian went 12-19 in 2013. The Trailblazers, however, are 5-2 to start 2024.
  • Defiance, who is new to the NAIA realm after transitioning from the NCAA Division III level, is 4-3 to begin the 2024 season.
  • Lindsey Wilson went 19-15 in 2023 and is 2-3 to begin the 2024 season.

Shawnee State notes:

  • The Bears are 2-2 to start 2024.
  • Haidyn Wamsley is out to another terrific start in 2024. The senior from nearby Otway is currently hitting a career-best .290 with 54 kills to boot.
  • Kylee Gifford -- who returned alongside Wamsley as Shawnee State's additional First-Team All-River States Conference hand from last season -- has 35 kills herself and is hitting .313.
  • Between Wamsley and Gifford, the duo have combined for seven solo blocks, 13 assisted blocks and 20 total blocks between them.
  • The Swiss Army Knife of the lineup, junior Megan Steele, has 85 service receptions, 44 digs, 36 kills and 11 assists through Shawnee State's first four matches of the 2024 season.
  • Reagan Lewis, who has 86 assists through the first four contests of the season, has 1,075 assists for her career after moving into a tie for 10th all-time in program history in career assists. Makaela Lovely, who has added in 60 assists of her own, has been a strong compliment to Lewis in her own right as a setter.
  • Junior defensive specialist Ava Jenkins leads Shawnee State in both service receptions (134) and digs (68).

Additional

The Emileigh Jo Cooper Memorial Classic is named after the memory of Emileigh Cooper, a former softball player at Marshall who was an assistant volleyball coach at Rio Grande prior to her passing in a car accident in 2015. Cooper was a Second-Team All-Conference-USA softball talent at Marshall, hitting .434 with three home runs, three doubles, 13 RBI and 32 runs scored as a right fielder.