WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The (RV) Tigers began their regular season in earnest Friday morning participating in the Vipers Sports Academy Volleyball Classic hosted by Keiser University. Campbellsville's defense made a huge impact on game one against Keiser in their five-set loss while their second defeat of the day was in a war versus #8 Missouri Baptist.
GAME ONE: Campbellsville 2, Keiser 3
Friday morning, the Seahawks rolled into their match against the Tigers with a decisive three-set victory over the William Carey Crusaders. The first kill of Campbellsville's season came from freshman
Brooke Hager. After going down 9-6, Keiser responded rattling off five points in a row. The Tigers kept the first set within two or three points for the remainder but the Seahawks' .242 hitting percentage (vs. Campbellsville's .156) proved too much and the first set ended 25-22 in Keiser's favor. Graduate transfer
Camryn Rich logged seven assists in her debut set as a Tiger.
Seahawks stormed off to 7-1 start and climbed to a 24-9 set advantage on the back of frequent Tiger mistakes. However, Campbellsville pulled their act together and began to connect truer, leading to an eight-point run before Keiser was able to close it out 25-17.
The Tigers carried that momentum into the third set, kicking it off with a six-to-nothing spree. The Seahawks wouldn't rest though, scoring six of the next eight points. Things were tied up at 11's, the first time the set was knotted since it had started. Like the first set but inversed, Campbellsville was able to keep a cushion of a few points the rest of the way with their 25-21 win. The Tigers had four blocks just like the third set, but the difference was their growth in hitting percentage (going from zero to .200).
The fourth saw the Seahawks go out to a slight lead before their hitting waned and the Tigers' strikes landed stronger. Campbellsville led 14-10 after connecting on .200 percent of their hits for kills and with six Keiser attack errors. Still, the Tigers couldn't pull away and the Seahawks remained competitive. Campbellsville reached their match-high fifth block of the set at 20-16. However, Keiser didn't stay down and tied things up at 21. The Tigers' sixth block put them a point ahead and they retained the advantage until they forced the fifth set, 25-23.
In the final frame, it was all Seahawks with eight kills on 17 attempts (.294) compared to the Tigers' three on 14 tries (-.071). Still, the effort to stay resolute and battle back to make things competitive was impressive. The standout from the contest was Hager who ended with 14 kills on a .524 hitting percentage and eight blocks.
Morgan Furness, the graduate transfer from Life University, reached double digit stifles with ten.
GAME TWO: Campbellsville 1, Missouri Baptist 3
The Tigers hit the court again later taking on the #8 Spartans of Missouri Baptist. The size that Campbellsville were capable of touting against Keiser was more equitable facing ranked Missouri Baptist with their seven players six feet or taller. Attack errors doomed the Tigers in the starting set, sinking their hitting percentage to .161 compared to the Spartans' efficient .423.
Campbellsville responded with a swift 5-1 start to their second set, but it wouldn't take long for the match to get tied up at nine's. The Tigers were up one or two points most of the set, relying on their increased defensive intensity to dig up balls. The Spartans moved ahead for the first time of the set at 21-20. Going back-and-forth, Campbellsville was up 24-22 but allowed Missouri Baptist to bring the score to 24's.
Hannah McGill sent the score up to 25 with her tap over, but another attack error put things back even. Missouri Baptist would eventually secure the second set behind a kill and a Campbellsville error.
The Spartans had been capable of runs more often than the Tigers, but other than that and the hitting discrepancy in set one, the match was in a virtual dead heat. It was about halfway through the third set when Campbellsville's offense caught fire. They spread the ball around too with five different Tigers recording a kill as they bounced back with a 25-19 win.
The offense from both teams were electric to begin the fourth frame. With the score at 8-6 in favor of the Spartans, the hitting percentages were high with .333 for Campbellsville and a whopping .600 for Missouri Baptist. As the set continued, hitting came back down to earth on both sides but the match remained contested. The Spartans separated themselves a bit, climbing to 18-15. They would keep that buffer for the remainder of the game and end it, 25-21.
Each set was extremely competitive although the second match didn't reach the fifth set as the first did.
Cierra Merrick led the way with 14 kills and Rich had 32 assists.
The Tigers continue their stint in Florida on Saturday facing off against the (RV) Siena Heights Saints and the Mobile Rams. Those contests begin at 8 a.m. ET and 12 p.m. ET respectively.
