Sports Release
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio – The Shawnee State volleyball program put up a valiant fight against No. 5 ranked Lindsey Wilson in obtaining 23 assists and 10 digs from Bonnie Huesing as well as nine kills from Christina Shelton.
On this day, a Bear upset was not to be as the Blue Raiders took Thursday’s evening Mid-South Conference by a 25-23, 25-10, 25-13 tally at Frank & Janis Waller Gymnasium.
As a unit, Shawnee State (10-8, 2-6 Mid-South) fared well during the first set in recording a total attack percentage of .314 to push Lindsey Wilson (17-3, 7-1 Mid-South) to its breaking point in the first set by committing just one attack error.
However, the Bears were not able to maintain that pace during the second and third sets as a strong Blue Raider front line held Shawnee State to attack percentages of .000 and .167 in the final two stanzas, while Lindsey Wilson obtained marks of .382 and .500 in the same pair of tilts.
Both squads came out firing to start the contest as the Bears and Blue Raiders tied or took the lead away from each other a dozen times during the opening 19 volleys before Shawnee State went on a 4-1 tilt off of two kills by Shelton and Miranda Clark to take a 13-11 advantage in the first set.
After Lindsey Wilson responded with a 10-3 run of its own to take a 21-16 advantage, Shawnee State went on another tear, as three kills and a service ace by Shelton allowed the Bears to cut the deficit to just a single point in threatening to send the first contest to extra volleys.
However, a kill from Makenzie Montano – who had 40 assists, 13 digs, and seven kills – ended those hopes as the Blue Raiders took the first set by a scant pair of points.
In the second set, the Bears started out hot again, as Huesing, Shelton, and Lauren Helbig combined for four spikes to give Shawnee State an early 5-4 lead in the second frame.
The stout Lindsey Wilson frontline, however, took over matters from there as the Blue Raiders ripped off a 15-2 run before the Bears were able to answer with consecutive points as the score ballooned to 19-9.
At that point, Lindsey Wilson ripped off a quick 6-1 run to end the second contest off of three kills by Ragni Knudsen during the quick burst.
Shawnee State bounced back after an early 3-0 deficit in the third frame of play to tighten the score up to a 12-10 count via three kills by Helbig and a pair of spikes by Ashley Galbraith.
The Bears, however, just couldn’t put together a run of points in the final set.
Even though Helbig and Galbraith added another kill apiece to keep the third set close at 16-12, Lindsey Wilson would eventually put together one final push as the Blue Raiders went on a match-ending 9-1 run to close out the contest.
On the match, Shawnee State was led by Huesing, who recorded 23 assists, 10 digs, 3 kills, and a .273 attack percentage. Shelton and Helbig added nine and seven kills, respectively, on .333 attack percentages. Madison Smith added 17 digs to lead the Bears in that category.
Shawnee State will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 3 as the Bears will host Cumberland (Tenn.) in another Mid-South matchup. The contest is slated for 12 p.m. at the Frank & Janis Waller Gymnasium.
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