CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The Lady Tigers of Campbellsville University (5-2, 2-0 MSC) excited to play volleyball at home for the first time this season taking on the Wildcats of Bethel University (8-2, 0-1 MSC). Despite the Wildcats storming back to win sets three and four, the fifth and deciding set went to the Lady Tigers.
Bethel coming in to the match having lost to Freed Hardeman to begin their conference play was looking to improve their standing against Campbellsville. The Lady Tigers entered the evening with a 2-0 record in conference play having defeated Tennessee Southern and Cumberland. Campbellsville also brought along with them Mid-South Conference honors from the past week: Defender of the Week
McKenna Barfield (with 11 blocks in the last two games) and the Setter of the Week
Paige Merrick (who accumulated 71 assists and 37 digs herself).
The Lady Tigers were receiving to start the match. A perfect pass led to a great set from
Paige Merrick and a thunderous kill by Barfield that got the crowd on their feet. The Lady Tigers set the tone early and often. In the middle part of the first set,
Taylor Thacker stepped to the service line and delivered a four-point run to blow things open for Campbellsville.
Molly Shannon led the way with four kills and Barfield continued her stellar defensive play with four blocks to go along with four kills of her own.
In the second set, the Lady Tigers saw Merrick picking apart the Wildcats passing game with precision serving producing an 8-0 advantage. The Wildcats put a run together for themselves in the middle of the set, but the Lady Tigers were up for the task as the closest they would allow the Wildcats to get was within three points. Shannon, leaving no doubt, closed out the set for the Lady Tigers 25-16. Leading the way for the Lady Tigers was Shannon adding three more kills to make it a total of seven and Barfield added three more blocks to make it a total of seven after just two sets.
Campbellsville was receiving again to start the third set and they quickly pounced on the Wildcats with a kill from
Hannah McGill. However, the Wildcats recovered and fought the Lady Tigers refusing to go down without a fight. Some big swings from Bethel penetrated Campbellsville's defense and silenced the Campbellsville home crowd for a while. Both teams battled back and forth with thunderous kills, timely blocks, and great saving plays as they entertained the fans with some great volleyball action. A hitting error by Campbellsville allowed Bethel to open up a two-point lead at 20-22, and a timeout by CU did not help much as Bethel scored two more points to make it 20-24. The Wildcats would eventually take set three by the score of 21-25. The difference in the set was the hitting percentage. Bethel had a .227 hitting percentage compared to Campbellsville's .117.
In the fourth set, the Lady Tigers came out swinging ready to produce and improve their hitting percentage woes from the previous set. However, the Wildcats kept pouring on the Lady Tigers leading by as many as 6 at 10-16. The Lady Tigers seemed to have run out of gas in the fourth set and were playing on their heels. The Wildcats aggressively went after the Lady Tigers with their attacks and their serves, keeping the Lady Tigers off balance and out of system. Bethel ran away with this set 17-25 and tied the match two sets apiece. The Wildcats' serving and stout defense kept the Lady Tigers at bay with a .49 hitting percentage.
The Lady Tigers sought a momentum shift in the deciding set. The Wildcats were ready too trading kills, digs, and even service errors with Campbellsville. A searing kill from
Cierra Merrick allowed the Lady Tigers to take a two-point lead, 7-5. Another block from Barfield brought the Lady Tigers to a four-point advantage, 9-5. However, Bethel was not giving up so easily and clawed their way back to tie the score at 10. A kill from the Wildcats allowed them to take the lead for the first time in the final set, but, a shot from McGill would evened things again at 11. Shannon followed with a kill and Barfield secured her tenth block of the match to give the Lady Tigers a two-point lead, 11-13. The Lady Tigers set Shannon for the game winner, and she delivered.
Taking the fifth set and the match, the Lady Tigers improved their record to 6-2, 3-0 MSC. Leading the way for the Lady Tigers was Shannon (15 kills and 13 digs) and
Paige Merrick (45 assists and 10 digs) both finding themselves in double figures in two stat columns. The best hitting percentage belonged to McGill with .294 to go along with her 12 kills.
Next, the Lady Tigers will be at home to take on Freed-Hardeman on Thursday, September 15
th at 7:00pm ET.
