CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The Lady Tigers of Campbellsville University (11-3, 5-0 MSC) were at home ready to take on the Bears of the University of Pikeville (4-12, 0-4 MSC), in a Mid-South Conference match-up Thursday night. Led by Molly Shannon, the women swept Pikeville, 3-0.
Campbellsville came into the match having been recently recognized by the NAIA Top 25 National Rankings receiving votes, and they were looking to extend their lead in the conference standings. Pikeville was hoping to pick up their first conference victory of the season while trying out players at new positions due to injuries at key positions.
The Lady Tigers jumped out to a three-point lead at 10-7 in set one, but the Bears would claw and fight throughout to stay close. Campbellsville earned the victory by the score of 25-23, taking advantage of an attack error from the Bears for the last point. Leading the way for the Lady Tigers was Shannon with four kills.
In the second set, Campbellsville pounced early and often as they opened up a 15-3 lead on Pikeville and forced them to use both timeouts early. An adjustment that the Lady Tigers made that proved to be critical was their serving game. Campbellsville picked apart the Pikeville offense and keep the Bears out of system through the entire set. The Lady Tigers took the second set by the score of 25-9. Shannon grew her kill total to 13 while Taylor Thacker and Paige Merrick each contributed with two aces.
The third set was a lot like the second set for Campbellsville as they continued their dominance of Pikeville. Using a combination of strong and precise serving along with an aggressive attack, the Lady Tigers cruised to a set victory by the score of 25-8. Shannon ended with 15 kills and Paige Merrick had 17 assists. On defense, Katie Morin was the defensive leader with 10 digs.
The difference in this match was the dominant serving game of Campbellsville. They produced nine aces and forced the Bears into nine reception errors. Their strong serves kept the Pikeville offense to a negative hitting percentage, (-.074%). The win improves the Lady Tigers record to 12-4 and 6-0 in the Mid-South Conference.
Campbellsville will be at home again Friday, September 30th as they take on the University of Cumberlands at 7pm ET.
