KOKOMO, Ind. — After their stint in Keiser for the first four games of their season, the Tigers headed to Indiana University-Kokomo for their next four at the 2023 IU Kokomo Volleyball Tournament. On day one, Campbellsville battled against the Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars and the IU-East Red Wolves. The Tigers continued to struggle to coalesce and were swept by the Cougars and by the Red Wolves.
GAME ONE: Campbellsville 0, Mount Vernon Nazarene 3
Up first for them in the tournament, Campbellsville took to the court against undefeated Mount Vernon Nazarene. The only time the Tigers led in the set was when they were up 1-0 after a
Brooke Hager block. Campbellsville led in hitting percentage and blocks and had fewer errors in the first set, but still came up short in the first set, 25-21.
The second frame was neck-and-neck until the score reached 10-8 for MVNU. They then went on a 9-0 run. The Tigers wouldn't record their tenth point until the Cougars had 22. The second set ended 25-11. The positives that Campbellsville had over their opponent in the first frame turned into detriments as they recorded a negative hitting percentage (-.167) and only mustered one block to MVNU's six. The Tigers also had 12 attack errors while the Cougars limited theirs to just three.
Campbellsville came out in set three firing away. Through their first nine points they were hitting .462, avoiding MVNU's middle blockers and finding the floor. Still, the Cougars were hanging around with eight points of their own. MVNU took a four-point lead at 20-16, but Campbellsville responded to go ahead by one at 21-20. With both squads tied at 23, an error and a block put things away for the Cougars.
GAME TWO: Campbellsville 0, IU-East 3
To continue the tournament immediately after their first game, the Tigers faced off IU-East Red Wolves. For the first 12 points, the initial set was point-for-point until the Red Wolves took a 16-12 advantage over the Tigers. Campbellsville tried to make up the difference, but it wasn't enough to catch up. IU-East took the first set, 25-18. Despite going down 1-0, the Tigers lead with three service aces compared to IU-East's one.
Campbellsville took the first point of set two. After matching each other's kills for a while, the Red Wolves took over with a seven-point lead. The second set ended 25-18 as the Tigers had eight attack errors while the Red Wolves had five.
After IU-East put up the first two points of set three, Campbellsville hit back to an 8-4 lead. A familiar struggle impacted the Tigers when they allowed the Red Wolves to go on a four-point run to tie the set at 11 and then the opposing squad keep increasing their lead. IU-East stacked up more points than Campbellsville could respond with and ended the match, 25-16.
Campbellsville led the way in total attacks with 127 while IU-East had 123.
Cierra Merrick had 13 kills and
Taylor Thacker had 12 digs, respectively. The difference between the two teams proved again to be hitting percentage as the Tigers struggled to land their attacks and see them impact in-bounds.
The Tigers will be back in action Saturday, August 26
th, to continue their run in the 2023 IU Kokomo Volleyball Tournament. Campbellsville will take on Cornerstone University at 10 am. ET and then host Indiana University-Kokomo at 2 p.m. ET.
