Bears drop road match to RedStorm

RIO GRANDE, Ohio -- The volleyball program at Shawnee State received 22 assists, seven digs, two service aces and two blocks from Makaela Lovely and 13 combined kills to go along with six total blocks from Haidyn Wamsley and Kylee Gifford, but the Bears dropped a 3-0 decision (18-25, 18-25, 19-25) to the Rio Grande RedStorm volleyball program Friday evening at Newt Oliver Arena in Rio Grande.

Defensively, Shawnee State proved to stay right with Rio Grande throughout the entirety of the match as the Bears blocked 11 balls to Rio Grande's six denials, and nabbed 36 digs while the RedStorm just slightly edged SSU with 39 dives. However, the Bears hit .103 on the attack in the setback.

Despite the straight set loss, SSU played well throughout the beginning of both matches -- as the Bears took a 6-5 lead early in the opening set on kills from Haidyn Wamsley and Whytney Faulkner and got a solo block from Makaela Lovely to claim the point. The Bears then kept the match square at eight all as Brooke Bossert added in a service ace.

Down by a 12-9 margin later in the opening set, Shawnee State got kills from Lovely and Maelynn Howell and two blocks -- both assisted by Wamsley and Gifford, then Wamsley and Howell -- as Shawnee State evened the opening set at 12 tallies apiece, but the Bears weren't able to claim the lead as SSU fell in the opening set by a 25-18 margin.

Shawnee State regrouped quickly, and by the beginning of the second set, the Bears held a 5-2 advantage as Wamsley notched a kill while Gifford teamed with Howell and Camille McIntosh for two separate denials to put the Bears in front by a 5-2 margin.

When Rio Grande rallied to score six consecutive points, SSU answered back by ripping off five straight on its own accord as McIntosh ripped off three straight kills off of Lovely passes while Lovely teamed with Wamsley for a block as the Bears took a 10-8 lead over the RedStorm.

Both teams then continued to trade the point, with Shawnee State staying within two volleys of the RedStorm all the way to the 36th volley of the second set behind kills from Faulkner and Wamsley and three service aces -- two from Lovely and one from Faulkner -- before the Bears ultimately dropped the second set by the same score.

In the third and final set, Shawnee State, down by a 13-8 margin, closed the gap down to just 19-18 as Wamsley nabbed three kills while Gifford posted two spikes to bring the Bears back within one point. However, SSU ultimately fell to URG by a 25-19 margin to close the match.

Additional

Along with Lovely's output, Shawnee State (14-10, 7-5 River States Conference) was led by Wamsley's eight kills, two assisted blocks and a .250 attack percentage and Megan Steele's 11 digs.

Shawnee State will make up the remainder of its suspended match against Indiana-East from Sept. 27 this Saturday, then will play a full three-set affair against the Red Wolves following the conclusion of that suspended match. The day's activities begin at 2 p.m. in Waller Gymnasium.