McKENZIE, Tenn. – The 24th-ranked Campbellsville women's volleyball team stretched its winning streak to five matches after sweeping Bethel University on Thursday night at Crisp Arena.
Annija Abolina finished with a match-high 11 kills and hit .556 for the Lady Tigers (16-3), while Maria Coelho finished with 10 kills on 19 attempts. Marcella Compeau was the only player in the match to record at least 10 digs, while Maliyah Tela finished with 33 assists. Tela had six more assists than the Wildcats (8-11) had kills.
After Bethel scored the first point of the match, Campbellsville got rolling and went on an 8-2 run in the first set. The Lady Tigers continued to lead throughout the first as the Wildcats on led at 1-0 and then 2-1.
The closest Bethel got after the Campbellsville run was 14-13. However, the Lady Tigers scored seven of the next nine points to stretch out their advantage once again. Campbellsville closed out the first set and picked up a 25-19 victory.
In the second set, the Lady Tigers picked up where they left off in the first set. Campbellsville scored first and never looked back as it started the set on an 8-3 spurt. After Bethel recorded just its fourth kill in the set to make the score, 13-7, in favor of the Lady Tigers, Campbellsville ended the set on a 12-0 as Tela and Kate Harris served out the set for the Lady Tigers en route to a 25-7 win.
The Wildcats got off to the strong start in the third set scoring the first three points, before Campbellsville countered to tie the score at three. Bethel never trailed over the first 42 rallies of the set as it regained the lead both times the Lady Tigers tied the score. Trailing 21-16, Campbellsville went on a 5-0 run to tie the set for the third time – all five points came with Tela serving.
For the second-straight match, the Lady Tigers found a late-set rally to clinch the match – Campbellsville closed its match at Cumberland University on Tuesday on a 7-0 run. After tying the score at 21, Campbellsville scored two-straight points to stretch its run to seven-consecutive points and take its first lead of the set.
Bethel countered out of timeout with back-to-back points, but the Lady Tigers closed out the match with two-straight kills as they ended the set on 9-2 run and capped off the sweep with a 25-23 win the final set.
Campbellsville recorded an attacking percentage of .378, while the Wildcats hit .052 for the match. The Lady Tigers hit over .450 in the first two sets, highlighted by a .480 attacking mark in the second set.
The Lady Tigers also recorded seven total blocks, led by Abolina with five assisted blocks in the contest.
Campbellsville returns to action on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. ET against Shawnee State University in a Mid-South Conference matchup in Portsmouth, Ohio.
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