BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The Lady Tigers of Campbellsville University (10-2) were on the second day of the Holiday Inn Express Invite Saturday looking to continue their winning ways. They split, falling to (RV) Columbia College in five sets but then sweeping host Olivet Nazarene.
Game One: Campbellsville 2, Columbia College 3
Riding a seven-game winning streak, the Lady Tigers were hoping to add another to the collection. They had a great first day of the tournament beating Governors State and Cardinal Stritch the night before. Campbellsville was matched up against the Cougars of Columbia College (11-7) The Cougars came into the match on a winning streak of their own with nine straight victories. Towards the beginning of that run, they defeated the NAIA #1 ranked, and defending national champions, Missouri Baptist.
In the first set, both teams went toe-to-toe trading points. In the middle of the set, the Cougars took advantage of a couple of runs and captured a nine-point advantage over the Lady Tigers. It seemed like the Lady Tigers were unable to get anything going against the Cougars. Still, Campbellsville brought the game to a five-point deficit forcing Columbia to take a timeout. After the break, the two teams exchanged points, but the Cougars would put another run together to close out the set, 17-25. The Cougars hit a .341 hitting percentage, while the Lady Tigers were held to only .116.
Determined to turn their offense around, the Lady Tigers jumped out to a 12-9 lead. The Cougars were able to regroup and keep things close, tying the score at 15. A kill by Hannah McGill sent Molly Shannon to the serving line and she delivered a four-point run to put the Campbellsville up 20-15. That streak from Shannon forced the Cougars to use up their last timeout to make some adjustments. Those changes proved instrumental as Columbia tied the score at 20. The Cougars would eventually defeat the Lady Tigers by the score of 22-25. Despite limiting the Cougars to a mere .173 hitting percentage, Campbellsville's offense produced an even lower hitting percentage (.034) which proved to be the difference in the set.
With the score two sets to none in favor of the Cougars, the Lady Tigers didn't give in. Shannon scored a kill that allowed the Lady Tigers to separate themselves a bit going up by two, 22-20. With back-to-back kills by McKenna Barfield and Shannon gave the Campbellsville the victory in the third set. The defense limited the Cougars' offense to an even lower hitting percentage .049 while hitting .200 allowing the Lady Tigers to stave off elimination and push the match into the fourth set.
To start the fourth, Columbia jumped all over Campbellsville and looked like they were in complete control early and often. The Cougars built a 10-16 lead before Coach Johnston and staff made some adjustments imploring her team to execute the changes. The Lady Tigers did just that and were able to tie the score at 18. Campbellsville finally took the lead behind Barfield's slam to put them up 23-22. The Lady Tigers secured the very next point after Shannon lowered the boom to make it set point. The very next play, Marianne Cassiano slammed one home and secured the victory forcing a fifth and decisive set.
Hoping to ride that momentum into the fifth set, the Lady Tigers fell early to the Cougars who built a four-point lead. Campbellsville clawed and fought to stay in this set. A kill by Cassiano got them to within three of the lead, and she followed with an ace. Within two points of the lead, the Lady Tigers attempted to buckle down and execute, but Columbia eventually defeated Campbellsville in this match by securing the fifth set, 12-15. Snapping their seven-game winning streak, the Lady Tigers showed grit and determination battling a strong team.
The difference in the fifth set again was the hitting percentage; Columbia hit at a .240 clip while holding Campbellsville to a match low, .027. Three Lady Tigers were in double figures in the match as Shannon recorded 15 kills and 27 digs, Cassiano logged 11 kills and 17 digs, and Merrick recorded 42 assists and 25 digs. Leading the way defensively was Andrea Laboy with 27 digs.
Up next for the Lady Tigers wads host school, Olivet Nazarene University as they continued their play in the Holiday Inn Express Invite.
Game Two: Campbellsville 3, Olivet Nazarene 0
Campbellsville University (10-3) was back in action on Saturday night matching up against the Tigers of Olivet Nazarene University (5-10) out of Illinois. Campbellsville was looking to get back on track as they had dropped the earlier five-set thriller.
The Lady Tigers in the first set came out swinging early and kept the pressure on as they built a four-point lead midway through. The ONU Tigers fought back and got to within a couple of points of the lead after a timeout, but Campbellsville was committed to taking set one to set the tone for the match. Hannah McGill sent ONU to their bench as the Lady Tigers captured the first set 25-23. Leading the way for the Lady Tigers was Cassiano with five kills.
During the second set, the Lady Tigers continued to dominate the ONU Tigers by putting together an aggressive offense and a suffocating defense. The Lady Tigers' defense was just too much for the ONU Tigers to penetrate. Campbellsville hit at .387 clip while limiting the ONU Tigers to a .000 hitting percentage. That proved to be the difference in the set as the Lady Tigers went on to secure it and put themselves in a great position going up two sets to none.
In the third set, the Lady Tigers' Shannon went off, scoring six consecutive points between kills and service points. This allowed Campbellsville to build an 11-3 lead as they sought to complete the sweep. It was all Lady Tigers in the set as they continued to score points at-will and took the third set to capture the match in straight sets, 25-10. Campbellsville hit a blistering .520 hitting percentage in this set while holding the ONU Tigers to a .091 hitting percentage.
Leading the way for the Lady Tigers was Cassiano with 12 kills on a .500 hitting percentage. Barfield was on fire capturing nine kills and a sizzling .600 hitting percentage. Katie Morin picked up 12 digs while Merrick contributed 35 assists. The Lady Tigers improved their record to 11-3 overall and were now winners of eight of their last nine matches.
Campbellsville will be back in action on Thursday, Sept. 29th at home as they take on conference opponent, University of Pikeville at 7:00pm ET.
